hand is the making or efficient cause and for the worthinesse of that divine story how God maketh and taketh away Frogs I will expresse it as it is left by the holy Ghost in ch 8. Exod. ver 5. Also the Lord said unto Moses say thou unto Aaron stretch thou out thy band with thy rod upon the streams upon the rivers and upon the ponds and cause Frogs to come upon the land of Egypt Ver. 6. Then Aaron stretched out his hand upon the waters of Egypt and the Frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt Vers 7. And the Sorcerers did likewise with their Sorceries and brought Frogs upon the land of Egypt Vers 8. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said Pray ye unto the Lord that he may take away the Frogs from me and from my people and I will let the people go that they may do sacrifice to the Lord. Vers 9. And Moses said unto Pharaoh concerning me Command when I shall pray for thee and thy servants and thy people to destroy the Frogs from thee and from thy houses that they may remain in the River only Vers 10. Then he said to morrow and he answered Be it as thou hast said that thou mayst know that there is none like the Lord our God Vers 11. So the Frogs shall depart from thee and from thy houses and from thy people and from thy servants only they shall remain in the River Ver. 12. Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh and Moses cryed unto the Lord concerning the Frogs which he had sent unto Pharaoh Vers 13. And the Lord did according to the saying of Moses so the Frogs dyed in the houses and in the Towns and in the fields Vers 14. And they gathered them together by heaps and the land stank of them c. And this was the second plague of Egypt wherein the Lord turned all the Fishes into Frogs as the Book of Wisdom saith and the Frogs ahounded in the Kings chamber and notwithstanding this great judgement of God for the present Pharaoh would not let the people go and afterwards that blinde superstitious Nation became worshippers of Frogs as Philastrius writeth thinking by this devotion or rather wickednesse in this observant manner to pacifie the wrath of God choosing their own ways before the word of Almighty God But vain is that worship which is invented without heavenly warrant and better it is to be obedient to the will of God then go about to please him with the cogitations of men although in their pretended holinesse we spend much time wealth and bloud There was one Cypselus the father of Periander who by his mother was hid in a Chest called Kypsele to be preserved from the hands of certain murtherers which were sent to kill him Wherefore afterwards the said Cypselus consecrated a house at Delphos to Apollo because he heard his crying when he was hid in a chest and preserved him In the bottom of that house was the trunk of a Palm-tree and certain Frogs pictured running out of the same but what was meant thereby is not certainly known for neither Plutarch which writeth the story nor Chersias which relateth it giveth any signification thereof but in another place where he enquireth the reason why the Oracle of Pythias gave no answer he conjectured because it was that the accursed thing brought out of the Temple of Apollo from Delphos into the Corinthian house had ingraven underneath the Brazen Palm Snakes and Frogs or else for the signification of the Sun rising The meat of Frogs thus brought forth are green herbs and Humble-bees or Shorn-bugs which they devour or catch when they come to the water to drink sometime also they are said to eat earth but as well Frogs as Toads do eat the dead Mole for the Mole devoureth them being alive In the moneth of August they never open their mouths either to take in meat or drink or to utter any voyce and their chaps are so fast joyned or closed together that you can hardly open them with your finger or with a stick The young ones of this kinde are killed by casting Long-wort or the leaves of Sea-lettice as Aelianus and Suidas write and thus much for the description of their parts generation and sustentation of these common Frogs The wisdom or disposition of the Aegyptian Frogs is much commended for they save themselves from their enemies with singular dexterity If they fall at any time upon a Water-snake which they know is their mortal enemy they take in their mouths a round Reed which with an invincible strength they hold fast never letting go although the Snake have gotten her into her mouth for by this means the Snake cannot swallow her and so she is preserved alive There is a pretty fable of a great Bull which came to the water to quench his thirst and whilest the Beast came running greedily into the water he trod in pieces two or three young Frogs then one of them which escaped with life went and told his mother the miserable misfortune and chance of his fellows she asked who it was that had so killed her young ones to whom he answered It was a great one but how great he could not tell the foolish Mother-frog desirous to have seen some body in the eyes of her son began to swell with holding in of her breath and then asked the young one if the Beast were as big as she And he answered much greater at which words she began to swel more and asked him again if the Beast were so big To whom the young one answered Mother leave your swelling for though you break your self you will never be so big as he and I think from this fable came the Proverb Rana Gyrina sapientior wiser then the young Frog This is excellently described by Horace in his third Satyre as followeth Absentis ranae pullis vituli pede pressis Vnus ubi effugit matri denarrat ut ingens Bellua cognates eliserit illa rogare Quantánt Num tandem se inflans sic magna fuisset Major dimidio Num tanto Cum magis atque Se magis inflaret non si te ruperis inquit Par eris haec à te non multum abludit imago Which may be Englished thus In old Frogs absence the young were prest to death By feet of a great Calf drinking in the water To tell the dam one ran that scap't with life and breath How a great heast her young to death did scatter How great said she so big and then did swell Greater by half said he then she swoll more and said Thus big but he cease swelling dam for I thee tell Though break thy self like him thou never canst be made There is another pretty fable in Esop tasking discontented persons under the name of Frogs according to the old verse Et veterem in limo ranae cacinere querelam Nam neque sicca placet nec quae stagnata
signifieth a Bull or Oxe Bakar Herds or a Cow Thor in the Chaldee hath the same signification with Schor and among the later Writers you may finde Tora a masculine and Torata a feminine for a Bull and a Cow accustomed to be handled for labour The Graecians call them Bous and Boes the Arabians Bakar and it is to be noted that the holy Scriptures distinguish betwixt Tzon signifying flocks of Sheep and Goats and Bakar for Herds of Cattel and Neat and Meria is taken for Bugils or the greatest Oxen or rather for fatted Oxen for the verb Marah signifieth to feed fat Egela is interpreted Jer. 46. for a young Cow and the Persians Gojalai It is very probable that the Latine Vacca is derived from the Hebrew Bakar as the Saracen word Baccara so in Hebrew Para is a Cow and Par a Steer and Ben Bakar the son of an Oxe or Calf and whereas the Hebrews take Parim for Oxen in general the Chaldees translate it Tore the Arabs Bakera the Persians Nadgacah or Madagaucha the Italians call it Bue the French Beuf the Spaniards Buey the Germans Ochs and Rind the Illyrians Wull The Italians call a Cow Vacca at this day the Graecians Bubalis and Damalis or Damalai for a Cow which never was covered with a Bull or tamed with a yoke and Agelada The French Vache the Spaniard Vaca the Germans Ku or Kuhe and the Citizens of Altina Ceva from which the English word Cow seemeth to be derived the Latine word is a young Heifer which hath ceased to be a Calf There are Oxen in most part of the world which differ in quantity nature and manner one from another and therefore do require a several Tractate And first their Oxen of Italy are most famous for as much as some learned men have affirmed that the name Italia was first of all derived of the Greek word Italous signifying Oxen because of the abundance bred and nourished in those parts and the great account the ancient Romans made hereof appeareth by notable example of punishment who banished a certain Countrey man for killing an Oxe in his rage and denying that he eat thereof as if he had killed a man likewise in Italy their Oxen are not all alike for they of Campania are for the most part white and slender yet able to manure the Countrey wherein they are bred they of Vmbria are of great bodies yet white and red coloured In Hetruria and Latium they are very compact and well set or made strong for labour but the most strong are those of Apeunine although they appear not to the eye very beautiful The Egyptians which dwell about Nilus have Oxen as white as snow and of exceeding high and great stature greater then the Oxen of Grecia yet so meek and gentle that they are easily ruled and governed by men The Aonian Oxen are of divers colours intermingled one within another having a whole round hoof like a horse and but one horn growing out of the middle of their forehead The domestical or tame Oxen of Africk are so small that one would take them for Calves of two years old the Africans faith Strabo which dwell betwixt Getulia and our Coast or Countrey have Oxen and Horses which have longer lips and hoofs then other and by the Grecians are termed Macrokeilateroi The Armenian Oxen have two horns but winding and crooking to and fro like Ivie which cleaveth to Oaks which are of such exceeding hardness that they will blunt any sword that is stroke upon them without receiving any impression or cut thereby Some are of opinion that the only excellent breed of Cattel is in Boeâ—tia neer the City Tanagra called once Poemandra by reason of their famous Cattel the which Oxen are called Coprophaga by reason that they will eat the dung of man so also do the Oxen of Cyprus to ease the pains of their small guts The Caricians in a part of Asia are not pleasant to behold having shaggie hait and bunches on either shoulders reaching or swelling to their necks but those which are either white or black are refused for labour Epirus yeeldeth also very great and large Oxen which the inhabitants call Pyrrici because that their first stock or seminary were kept by King Pyrrhus howsoever other say that they have their name of their fiery flaming colour they are also called Larani of a Village Larinum or of Larinus a chief Neat-herd of whom Atheneus maketh mention who received this great breed of Cattel of Hercules when he returned from the slaughter of Gerion who reigned about Ambracia and Ampholochi where through the fatness of the earth and goodness of the Pasture they grow to so great a stature Other call them Cestrini I know not for what cause yet it may be probable that they are called Larini by reason of their broad Nostrils for Rines in Greek signifieth Nostrils but the true cause of their great bone and stature is because that neither sex were suffered to couple one with another untill they were four years old at the least and therefore they were called Atauri and Setauri and they were the proper goods of the King neither could they live in any other place but in Epirus by reason that the whole Countrey is full of sweet and deep pastures All the Oxen in Euloea are white at the time of their Calving and for this cause the Poets call that Countrey Argoboeon If that Oxen or Swine be transported or brought into Hispaniola they grow so great that the Oxen have been taken for Elephants and their Swine for Mules but I take this relation to be hyperbolical There are Oxen in India which will eat flesh like Wolves and have but one horn and whole hoofs some also have three horns there be other as high as Camels and their horns four foot broad There was a horn brought out of India to Ptolemy the second which received three Amphorues of water amounting the least to thirty English gallons of wine measure whereby it may be conjectured of how great quantity is the beast that bare it The Indians both Kings and people make no small reckoning of these beasts I mean their vulgar Oxen for they are most swift in course and will run a race as fast as any horse so that in their course you cannot know an Ox from a Horse waging both gold and silver upon their heads and the Kings themselves are so much delighted with this pastime that they follow in their Wagons and will with their own mouths and hands provoke the beasts to run more speedily and herein the Ox exceedeth a Horse because he will not accomplish his race with sufficient celerity except his rider draw bloud from his sides with the spur but the Oxes rider need not to lay any hands or pricks at all upon him his only ambitious nature of overcoming carrying him more swiftly then all the rods or spurs of the world could
of these curst Dogs together and them few which be kept must be tyed up in the day time that so they may be more vigilant in the night when they are let loose There are of this kind which Mariners take with them to Sea to preserve their goods on Ship-board they chuse them of the greatest bodies and lowdest voice like the Croatian Dog resembling in hair and bigness and such asare very watchful according to the saying of the Poet Exagitant lar turba Diania fures Pervigilantque lares pervigilantque Canes And such also they nourish in Towers and Temples in Towers that so they may descry the approaching enemy when the Souldiers are asleep for which cause Dogs seen in sleep signifie the careful and watchful wise servants or Souldiers which foresee dangers and preserve publick and private good There was in Italy a Temple of Pallas wherein were reserved the axes instruments and armour of Diomedes and his Colleagues the which Temple was kept by Dogs whose nature was as the Author saith that when Grecians came to that Temple they would faun upon them as if they knew them but if any other Countreymen came they shewed themselves wilde fierce and angry against them The like thing is reported of a Temple of Vulcan in Aeina wherein was preserved a perpetuall and unquenchable fire for the watching whereof were Dogs designed who would faun and gently flatter upon all those which came chastly and religiously to worship there leading them into the Temple like the familiars of their God but upon wicked and evill disposed leud persons they barked and raged if once they endevoured so much as to enter either the Wood or Temple but the true cause hereof was the imposture of some impure and deceitful unclean diabolical spirits And by the like instinct Scipio Africanus was wont to enter into the Capitol and command the Chappel of Jupiter to be opened to him at whom no one of the Keepers Dogs would ever stir which caused the Men keepers of the Temple much to marvel whereas they would rage fiercely against all other whereupon Stroza made these Verses falsly imputing this demonical illusion to divine revelation Quid tacitos linquam quos veri baud nescia Crete Nec semper mendax ait aurea templa tuentes Parcereque baud ulli solitos mirabile dictis Docta Tyanaei Aratos senioris adora Non magioo cantu sed quod divinitus illis Insita vis animo virtutis gnara latentis The like strange thing is reported of a Temple or Church in Cracovia dedicated to the Virgin Mary wherein every night are an assembly of Dogs which unto this day saith the Author meet voluntarily at an appointed hour for the custody of the Temple and those ornaments which are preserved therein against Theeves and Robbers and if it fortune any of the Dogs be negligent and slack at the hour aforesaid then will he bark about the Church untill he be let in but his fellowes take punishment of him and fall on him biting and rending his skin yea sometime killing him and these Dogs have a set diet or allowance of dinner from the Canons and Preachers of the Church which they duely observe without breach of order for to day two of them will goe to one Canons house and two to anothers and so likewise all the residue in turnes successively visit the several houses within the Cloister yard never going twice together to one house nor preventing the refection of their fellowes and the story is reported by Antonius Schnebergerus for certain truth upon his own knowledge Of the MIMICK or GETULIAN-DOG and the little MELITAEAN-DOGS of Gentlewomen THere is also in England two other sorts of Dogs the figure of the first is here expressed being apt to imitate all things it seeth for which cause some have thought that it was conceived by an Ape for in wit and disposition it resembleth an Ape but in face sharpe and black like a Hedge-hog having a short recurved body very long legs shaggie hair and a short tail this is called of some Canis Lucernarius these being brought up with Apes in their youth learn very admirable and strange feats whereof there were great plenty in Egypt in the time of King Ptolemy which were taught to leap and play and dance at the hearing of musick and in many poor mens houses they served in stead of servants for divers uses These are also used by Players and Puppet-Mimicks to work strange tricks for the sight whereof they get much money such an one was the Mimicks dog of which Plutarch writeth that he saw in a publick spectacle at Rome before the Emperor Vespasian The Dog was taught to act a play wherein were contained many persons parts I mean the affections of many other Dogs at last there was given him a piece of bread wherein as was said was poison having virtue to procure a dead sleep which he received and swallowed and presently after the eating thereof he began to reel and stagger to and fro like a drunken man and fell down to the ground as if he had been dead and so lay a good space not stirring foot nor limb being drawn up and down by divers persons according as the gesture of the Play he acted did require but when he perceived by the time and other signes that it was requisite to arise he first opened his eyes and lift up his head a little then stretched forth himself like as one doth when he riseth from sleep at the last up he getteth and runneth to him to whom that part belonged not without the joy and good content of Caesar and all other the beholders To this may be added another story of a certain Italian about the year 1403. called Andrew who had a red Dog with him of strange feats and yet he was blind For standing in the Market place compassed about with a circle of many people there were brought by the standers by many Rings Jewels Bracelets and pieces of gold and silver and there within the circle were covered with earth then the Dog was bid to seek them out who with his nose and feet did presently find and discover them then was he also commanded to give to every one his own Ring Jewel Bracelet or money which the blind Dog did perform directly without stay or doubt Afterward the standers by gave unto him divers pieces of coin stamped with the images of sundry Princes and then one called for a piece of English money and the Dog delivered him a piece another for the Emperors coin and the Dog delivered him a piece thereof and so consequently every Princes coin by name till all was restored and this story is recorded by Abbus Vrspergensis whereupon the common people said the Dog was a Devill or else possessed with some Pythonical spirit and so much for this Dog There is a Town in Pachynus a Promontory of Sicily
up that milk spilt on the ground and afterwards the King drinketh up the residue and besides him no body that day except it be of the Kings linage or of the Countrey of Horiach for the people of that Countrey have liberty to tast thereof that day because of a battle which once they obtained for the great Cam. The property of this milk is to loosen the belly and because it is thin and hath no fat in it therefore it easily descendeth and doth not curdle in the stomach and it is said that the Scythians can keep it twelve dayes together therewithal satisfying their hunger and quenching their thirst And thus much shall satisfie for the natural discourses of Horses hereafter followeth the moral The moral discourse of Horses concerning Fictions Pictures and other devises ANd first of all for the moral dignity of Horses there is a celestial constellation called Hippos according to these Verses of Aratus thus translated Huic Equus ille jubam quatiens fulgore micanti Summum contingit caput alvo stellaque jungens Vna The Latins call this star Pegasus and they say that he is the Son of Neptune and Medusa who with striking his foot upon a Rock in Helicon a mountain of Boeotia opened a Fountain which after his name was called Hippocrene Others tell the tale in this sort at what time Bellerophon came to Praetus the Son of Abas the King of the Argives Antia the Kings wife fell in love with her guest and making it known unto him promised him half her husbands Kingdom if he would lie with her but he like an honest man abhorring so foul a fact utterly refused to accomplish the desire and dishonesty of the lustful Queen whereupon she being afraid lest he should disclose it unto the King prevented him by her own complaint informing the King that he would have ravished her when the King heard this accusation because he loved Bellerophon well would not give punishment himself but sent him to Schenobeus the Father of Queen Antia that he in defence of his Daughters chastity might take revenge upon him who presently cast him to Chimaera which at that time depopulated all the coast of Lycia but Bellerophon by the help of the Horse Pegasus did both overcome and avoid the monster and being weary of his life perceiving that there was no good nor truth upon the earth determined to forsake the world and flie to heaven who coming neer to heaven casting down his eyes to the earth trembled to see how far he was distant from it and so his heart fainting for fear fell down backward and perished but his Horse kept on his flight to heaven and was there placed among the Stars by Jupiter Euripedes telleth the tale otherwise for he saith that Chiron the Centaure had a Daughter nourished in the mountain Pelius which was called Theas and afterward Hippe because of her exceeding hunting on horse-back she was perswaded by Aeolus the Son of Hellen a Nephew of Jupiters to let him lie with her whereupon she conceived with childe and when the time of her deliverance came she fled from her Father into the woods for fear the loss of her Virginity should be known unto him but he followed her to see what was the cause of his Daughters departure whereupon she desired of the Gods that her father might not see her in travel her prayer was granted and she after her delivery was turned into a Mare and placed among the Stars Others say that she was a Prophetesse and because she revealed the counsels of the Gods was therefore metamorphozed in that shape in the place aforesaid Others say that because she gave over to worship Diana she lost her first presence But to return to the first tale of Bellerophon who after the death of Chimaera growing proud for his valor attempted to flie to heaven but Jupiter troubled his Horse with a Fury and so he shooke off his Rider who perished in the field Alecus apo tese alese because of his errour and Pegasus was placed in heaven But to come nearer to the description of the Poeticall Horse Albertus Magnus and some others say that it is a Beast bred in Ethiopia having the head and feet of a Horse but horned and wings much greater then the wings of an Eagle which he doth not lift up into the air like a bird but only stretcheth them out when he runneth whereby his only presence is terrible to all creatures unto whom he is enemy but especially to Men. But for the truth hereof although Pliny and some others seem to affirm as much yet will I set down nothing for truth and certainty because as the Poets call every swift Horse Volucres and Alipedes so the errour of that figure hath rather given occasion to the framing of this new Monster Pegasus then any other reasonable Allegory Likewise I know no cause why the Poets should fain that Ceres was turned into a Mare and hid her self in the herds of Oncius Neptune falling in love with her followed her to those fields and perceiving that he was deceived turned himself also into a Horse and so had to do with her whereat Ceres was grievously offended and fell into a great fury for which cause she was called Erinnys yet afterwards she washed her self in the River Ladon laying aside all her rage and fury at the fulness of time she brought forth Ation And the Arcodians also had a certain Den wherein they had a great remembrance of this ravishment of Ceres sitting in a Den wherein they say she hid her self from all creatures and whereunto they offer divine worship They picture her in a Colts skin sitting like a woman in all parts with a long garment down to her ancles but the head of a Horse with the pictures of many Dragons and other such wilde beasts holding in one of her hands a Dolphin and in the other a Dove By all which it is not uneasie for every man to know conceive their meaning that plenty of food signified by Ceres doth not only maintain Men Fowls Beasts and Fishes but also the immoderate use thereof draweth men to inordinate lust and concupiscence and that the Gods of the Heathen were more rather to be accounted Beasts then Men. Diana also among the Arcadians was called Eurippa for the finding out of those Mares which Vlysses had lost which Vlysses erected a statue for Neptune the great Rider and they say that Hippolytus being torn in pieces by Horses through the love of Diana and skill of Aesculapius by the vertue of certain herbs he was restored unto life again Whereupon Jupiter being sore vexed and angry with Aesculapius for such an invention deluding as it were the fury of the Gods killed him with lightning and thrust him down into hell because no wretched man would fear death if such devises might take place which fact Virgil describeth in these Verses At Trivia Hippolytum secret is alma recondit Sedibus
men hunt and seek 〈…〉 em Of the MOUSE PONTIQVE THe name of this Mouse is given unto it from the Island out of which it was first brought named Pontus and for this cause it is also called Venetus because it was first of all brought into Germany from Venice It is called also Varius by Idorus from whence cometh the German word Vutrck from the diversity of the colour Grauvuerck It is called also Pundtmuss as it were Ponticusmus or rather of Bundi because they were wont to be brought in bundles to be sold fifty together and they were sold for twenty groats Volaterranus and Hermolaus are of this opinion that the white one in this kinde be called of the Italians Armelline and the Germans Hermelin but we have promised already to prove that Hermelin is a kinde of Weesil which in the Winter time is white by reason of extremity of cold and in the Summer returneth into her colour again like as do the Hares of the Alpes This Pontique Mouse differeth from others only in colour for the white is mingled with ash colour or else it is sandy and black and in Polonia at this day they are found red and ash coloured Their two lowermost teeth before are very long and when it goeth it draweth the tail after it like Mice when it eateth it useth the fore-feet in stead of hands and feedeth upon Walnuts Chesnuts Filbeards small Nuts Apples and such like fruits In the Winter time they take sleep in stead of meat And it is to be remembred that the Polonians have four kindes of pretious skins of Mice which they use in their garments distinguished by four several names The first of grisel colour called Popieliza The second is called Gronosthaii a very white Beast all over except the tip of the tail which is all black and this is the Hermelin The third is called Novogrodela from the name of a Town and this is white mingled with grisel and this is also a kinde of Pontique Mouse The fourth Vvieuvorka of a bright Chesnut colour and this is the Squirrel for they call Squirrels Weesils and Hermelins all by the name of Mice These Pontique Mice have teeth on both sides and chew the cud In the Winter time as we have said they lie and sleep especially the white ones and their sense of taste doth excel all other as Pliny writeth they build their nests and breed like common Squirrels Their skins are sold by ten together the two best are called Litzschna the third a little worse are called Crasna and the fourth next to them Pocrasna and the last and vilest of all Moloischna with these skins they hem and edge garments and in some places they make Canonical garments of them for Priests unto which they sew their tails to hang down on the skirts of their garments of which custom Hermolaus writeth very excellently in these words Instruxit ex muribus luxuriam suam vita alios magnis frigoribus alios medio anni tempore a septentrionibus petendo armamus corpora debellamus animos That is to say The life of man hath learned to be prodigal even out of the skins of Mice for some they use against extremity of cold and they fetch others out of the farthest Northern parts for the middle part of the year Thus do we arm and adorn our bodies but put down and spoil our mindes I send unto thee a little skin the upper place of the hairs thereof being of a white ash colour but the root of the hair or inner part thereof is a black brown They call it Popyelycza Lataacza that is a Pontique flying Mouse It is always so moist that it can never be dressed by the Skinner or Lether-dresser The people use it to wipe sore running eyes having a perswasion that there is in it a singular vertue for the easing and mitigating of those pains but I think that the softness was the first cause which brought in the first use thereof but if the hairs do not cleave hard to the skin it cannot be done without danger Also the hairs hanging as it were in a round circle against or above the two former feet they call wings wherewithal they are thought to flie from tree to tree Thus far Antonius Gesner after the receit of these skins being willing to preserve them from moths because they were raw for experience sake gave them to a leather dresser who presently dressed them with Vinegar and the Lees of Wine so that it appeareth the Skinners of Lituania had not the skill how to dress it After they were dressed they were so soft that they stretched above measure so that every one of them were square that is to say their length and breadth were equal for they were two palms or eight fingers broad and no more in length the head and tail excepted wherefore it may well be called a square Mouse or Sciurus quadratus because we are sure of the former but not of the flying the tail was as long as four or five fingers are broad being rough like the tail of other Squirrels but beset with black and white hairs the whole colour both of the belly and upper part was whitish as we have said but black underneath the hair is so soft as any silk and therefore fit for the use of the eyes The ears shorter and rounder then a Squirrels the feet did not appear by the skin the neather part was distinguished from the upper part by a certain visible line wherein did hang certain long hairs which by their roughness and solidity under the thin and broad frame of their body might much help them to flie even as broad fishes swim by the breadth of their bodies rather then by the help of their fins The Helvetians wear these skins in their garments It is reported by Aelianus that the Inhabitants of Pontus by making supplication to their Gods did avert and turn away the rage of Mice from their Corn-fields as the Egyptians did as we have said before in the story of the vulgar Mouse Of the Mouse called the Shrew or the Erd shrew THe word Hanaka of the Hebrews remembred in the 11. chapter of Leviticus is diversly interpreted by the translators some call it a reptile beast which always cryeth some a reptile flying beast some a Horse-leach or bloud-sucker some a Hedgehog and some a Beaver as we have shewed before in the Hedgehog But the Septuagints translate it Mygale and S. Jerom Mus araneus that is a Shrew Dioscorides calleth it Miogale the Germans and Helvetians call it Mutzer in some parts of Germany from the figure of the snowt it is called Spitzmus by some Zissmuss from the fiction of his voice and some Gross Zissmuss the Hollanders call it Moll Musse because it resembleth a Mole Mathaolus for the Italians call it Toporagno that is a Mole-shrew The Helvetians call it Bisem-muss that is a Musk-mouse because it being dryed in a furnace smelleth like
they do they consume away in time They annoy Vines and are seldom taken except in cold they frequent Ox-dung and in the Winter time repair to houses gardens and stables where they are taken and killed If they fall into a Cart-road they die and cannot get forth again as Marcellus N 〈…〉 der and Pliny affirm And the reason is given by Philes for being in the same it is so amazed and trembleth as if it were in bands And for this cause some of the Ancients have prescribed the earth of a Cart-road to be laid to the biting of this Mouse for a remedy thereof They go very slowly they are fraudulent and take their prey by deceit Many times they gnaw the Oxes hoofs in the stable They love the rotten flesh of Ravens and therefore in France when they have killed a Raven they keep it till it stinketh and then cast it in the places where the Shrew-mice haunt whereunto they gather in so great number that you may kill them with shovels The Egyptians upon the former opinion of holiness do bury them when they die And thus much for the description of this Beast The succeeding discourse toucheth the medicines arising out of this Beast also the cure of her venemous bitings The Medicines of the Shrew The Shrew which falling by chance into a Cart-rode or track doth die upon the same being burned and afterwards beaten or dissolved into dust and mingled with Goose grease being rubbed or anointed upon those which are troubled with the swelling in the fundament coming by the cause of some inflammation doth bring unto them a wonderful and most admirable cure and remedy The Shrew being slain or killed hanging so that neither then nor afterwards she may touch the ground doth help those which are grieved and pained in their bodies with sores called fellons or biles which doth pain them with a great inflammation so that it be three times invironed or compassed about the party so troubled The Shrew which dyeth in the furrow of a Cart-wheel being found and rowled in Potters clay or a linnen cloth or in Crimson or Scarlet woollen cloth and three times marked about the Impostumes which will suddenly swell in any mans body will very speedily and effectually help and cure the same The tail of a Shrew being cut off and burned and afterwards beaten into dust and applyed or anointed upon the sore of any man which came by the biting of a greedy and ravenous Dog will in very short space make them both whole and sound so that the tail be cut from the Shrew when she is alive not when she is dead for then it hath neither good operation nor efficacy in it The former hoofs of a Horse being scraped and the same fragments or scantlings thereof being beaten in the dust or earth which hath been digged up by a Shrew in four measures of water poured down the mouth of a Horse which is troubled with any pain or wringing in his bowels will soon give him both help and remedy The Shrew being either applyed in drink or put in the manner and form of a plaister or hanged upon the sore which he hath bitten is the most excellentest and most medicinable cure for the helping and healing thereof A preservative against poyson would be an excellent remedy that neither man nor any other living creature should be bitten if they should leave or would want that superstition called an enchantment against poyson being hanged about the neck whereof we will speak more in the curing of the bites of this Beast That the biting of a Shrew is venemous and of the reason of healing in this kinde In Italy the biting of a Shrew is accounted for a very strong poyson and that except there be some medicine very speedily applyed for the curing and healing thereof the party so bitten will die These Shrews are truly so venemous and full of poyson that being slain or killed by Cats whose nature is to kill whatsoever Mice they take they will not offer to touch or eat the least part of them But the biting of a female Shrew is most obnoxious and hurtful when she is great with young but most dangerous of all when she biteth any one which is great with young either a woman or any other Beast whatsoever her self being also with young for then it will hardly be cured If a Shrew shall bite any creature while she is great with young the pushes or biles will in time be broke which they make and will come unto a very great and malignant wound and sore If the Shrew do also bite any creature during the time she is with young she will presently leap off notwithstanding she biteth more dangerous There is nothing which do more apparently explain and shew the biting of a Shrew then a certain vehement pain and grief in the creature which is so bitten as also a pricking over the whole body with an inflammation or burning heat going round about the place and a flery redness therein in which a black push or like swelling with a watery matter and filthy corruption doth arise and all the parts of the body which do joyn unto it seem black and blew with the marvellous great pain anguish and grief which ariseth and proceedeth from the same When the push or bile which cometh by the occasion of a Shrew cleaveth or is broken there proceedeth and issueth forth a kinde of white flesh having a certain rinde or skin upon it and some-time there appeareth in them a certain burning and sometimes the same is eaten in and falleth out but in the beginning there is a most filthy green corruption and matter which floweth in the same afterward it is putrefied and eaten in and then the flesh falleth forth the wringings also of the inward parts the difficulty of voiding the urine and a corrupted sweat doth follow and accompany the same But Avicenna affirmeth that in what place soever this Beast shall bite the sores thereof with great anguish will pant or beat and that in every hole wherein his venemous teeth have entred there will a certain fiery redness appear the skin whereof being broken there will come a very white and mattery fore which will breed much pain and trouble in all the parts of the body for the most part The sores or wounds which are made also by this Beast are very manifestly known by the marks of the fore-teeth standing all in a row together as also by the bloud which issueth from the wound being at the first pure clear and exceeding red but afterwards corrupt blackish and full of putrefaction There do also divers bunches arise in the flesh usually after the biting of this Beast which if any man shall break he shall see the flesh which lyeth under them corrupted and divided with certain clefts or rifts in the same Moreover the nature of this Beast is such that
they have another property if they do not breed and engender before the casting of their Colts-teeth they remain steril and barren all their life long for so doth the generative power of the Asses body rest upon a tickle and nice point apt to rise or easie to fall away to nothing And in like sort is a Horse prone to barrenness for it wanteth nothing but cold substance to be mingled with his seed which cometh then to pass when the seed of the Ass is mixed with it for there wanteth but very little but that the Asses seed waxeth barren in his own kinde and therefore much more when it meeteth with that which is beside his nature and kinde This also hapneth to Mules that their bodies grow exceeding great especially because they have no menstruous purgation and therefore where there is an annual breeding or procreation by the help and refreshing of these flowers they both conceive and nourish now these being wanting unto Mules they are the more unfit to procreation The excrements of their body in this kinde they purge with their urine which appeareth because the male Mules never smell to the secrets of the female but to their urine and the residue which is not voided in the urine turneth to encrease the quantity and greatness of the body whereby it cometh to pass that if the female Mule do conceive with foal yet is she not able to bring it forth to perfection because those things are dispersed to the nourishment of her own body which should be imployed about the nourishment of the foal and for this cause when the Egyptians describe a barren woman they picture a Mule Alexander Aphrodiseus writeth thus also of the sterility of Mules Mules saith he seem to be barren because they consist of Beasts divers in kinde for the commixtion of seeds which differ both in habit and nature do evermore work something contrary to nature for the abolishing of generation for as the mingling together of black and white colours doth destroy both the black and white and produce a swart and brown and neither of both appear in the brown so is it in the generation of the Mules whereby the habitual and generative power of nature is utterly destroyed in the created compound which before was eminent in both kindes simple and several These things saith he Alcmaeon as he is related by Plutarch saith that the male Mules are barren by reason of the thinness and coldness of their seed and the females because their wombs are shut up and the veins that should carry in the seed and expel out the menstruous purgation are utterly stopt And Empedocles and Diocles say that the womb is low narrow and the passages crooked that lead into it and that therefore they cannot receive seed or conceive with young whereunto I do also willingly yeeld because it hath been often found that women have been barren for the same cause To conclude therefore Mules bear very seldom and that in some particular Nations if it be natural or else their Colts are prodigious and accounted monsters Concerning their natural birth in hot regions where the exterior heat doth temper the coldness of the Asses seed there they may bring forth And therefore Collumella and Varro say that in many parts of Africk the Colts of Mules are as familiar and common as the Colts of Mares are in any part of Europe So then by this reason it is probable unto me that Mules may ingender in all hot Countries as there was a Mule did engender often at Rome or else there is some other cause why they do engender in Africk and it may be that the African Mules are like to the Syrian Mules before spoken of that is they are a special kinde by themselves and are called Mules for resemblance and not for nature It hath been seen that a Mule hath brought forth twins but it was held a prodigy Herodotus in his fourth Book recorded these two stories of a Mules procreation When Darius saith he besieged Babylon the Babylonians scorned his Army and getting up to the top of their Towers did pipe and dance in the presence of the Persians and also utter very violent opprobrious speeches against Darius and the whole Army amongst whom one of the Babylonians said thus Quid istic desidetis ô Persâ— quin potius absceditis tunc expugnaturi nos cum pepererint Mulae O ye Persians why do you sit here wisdom would teach you to depart away for when Mules bring forth young ones then may you overcome the Babylonians Thus spake the Babylonian believing that the Persians should never overcome them because of the common proverb epcan emionoi tekâ—sin when a Mâ—le beareth young ones But the poor man spake truer then he was aware of for this followed after a yeer and seven months While the siege yet lasted it hapned that certain Mules belonging to Zâ—pirus the son of Megabizus brought forth young ones whereat their Master was much moved while he remembred the aforesaid song of the Babylonian and that therefore he might be made the Author of that fact communicated the matter with Darius who presently entertained the device therefore Zopirus cut off his own nose and ears and so ran away to the Babylonians telling them that Darius had thus used him because he perswaded him to depart with his whole Army from Babylon which he said was in expugnable and invincible The Babylonians seeing his wounds and trusting to their own strength did easily give credence unto him for such is the nature of men that the best way to beguile them is to tell them of those things they most desire for so are their hopes perswaded before they receive any assurances But to proceed Zopirus insinuated himself further into the favour of the Babylonians and did many valiant acts against the Persians whereby he got so much credit that at last he was made the General of the whole Army and so betrayed the City unto the hands of Dirius Thus was Babylon taken when Mules brought forth Another Mule brought forth a young one at what time Xerxes passed over Hellespont to go against Graecia with his innumerable Troops of Souldiers and the said Mule so brought forth had the genitals both of the male and female Unto this I may adde another story out of Suetonius in the life of Galba Caesar As his father was procuring Augurisms or divinations an Eagle came and took the bowels out of his hands and carryed them into a fruit-bearing-oak he enquiring what the meaning of that should be received answer that his posterity should be Emperours but it would be very long first whereunto he merrily replyed Sane cum Mula pepererit I sir when a Mule brings forth young ones which thing afterwards happened unto Galba for by the birth of a Mule he was confirmed in his enterprises when he attempted the Empire so that that thing which was a prodigy and cause of sorrow and
of the Greek and Latine Epigrams with praising them or dispraising them according to their own humour The Aegyptians by a Grashopper painted understood a Priest and an holy man the later makers of Hieroglyphicks sometimes will have them to signifie Musicians sometimes pratlers or talkative companions but very fondly How ever the matter be the Grashopper hath sung very well of her self in my judgement in this following Distich Sim licet insecti genus exiguum atque minutum Magna tamen parvis gratia rebus inest Although I am an Insect very small Yet with great vertue am endow'd withall Next in order followeth the Gryllus or Kricket both for that it resembleth it somewhat in shape the wings excepted but comes very near it in its note and manner of singing Calepine saith it is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but citeth not his author neither can he Others from the shrill sound think it to be so called like the noise of the dashing of waves which is called Gryllismus in the number of whom is Isidore Hadrianus Junius calleth it from the harshness of the sound 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but not rightly whereas I have proved one of Arist that to be a greater sort of Locusts Freigius quest lib. from Pliny calleth it Tryxalis the which notwithstanding it be an Insect without wings as the other is yet it is not at all like to the Gryllus in form of shape It is called also in Latine Gryllus in French un Gryllon Crynon in Arabick Sarsir if we may believe Bellunensis in Barbary Gerad of Avicen Algiedgied of the Polonians Swierc Hungarians Oszifereg in Germany ein Grill ein Heyme about Argentinum from the moneth wherâ—in it sings Brach vogle of the Illytians Swiertz Czwrczick of the Italian and Spaniard Grâ—llo of the English a Kricket of the Dutch Creket Nachtecreket The noise which they make is caused by the rubbing of their wings one against the other as Pliny witnesseth Jacob Garret an industrious and ingenious Apothecary did the same with the wings pluckt off and rubbed together very cunningly imitating them insomuch that I wonder at Scaliger who saith it cometh from a kinde of I know not what follicle and pipe placed in the hollow part of the belly and at Sabinus who ascribeth it to the collision or grating together of their teeth the which Pliny also but falsly writeth of the Locusts When as either of them through the narrowness of the passages of their holes do lightly rub their wings whether field Kricket or domestick they make but a small sound but when they are out of doors and rub hard they make a very shril loud noise yet not at all without the motion and agitation of their wings the which if you crop or pull off you shall see all that noise presently to cease In the heat of the day in which they are much delighted and in the night also they sing before their holes mouth Their common abode is in pastures and medows they do not willingly tarry in shady and opacous places they seldome live till winter as George Agricola writeth Nigidius gives great credit to them but the Magicians more because they go backward and make a noise in the night and make holes in the earth The farther off they are they make the shriller noise whereas being near at hand they are silent and through fear or suspicion presently betake themselves to their holes The Kricket saith Albertus l. 4. c. 7. exercit 273. if it be divided in the middle or have the head taken off yet sings and lives a great while after The which if it be true what shall become of that pipe in the belly of them which Scaliger saith doth cause the sound The children use to hunt them with a Pismire tyed about the middle with a hair which they put into their hole blowing away first of all the dust lest she should hide her self again and so is drawn out by the Pismire Plin. l. 29. c. ult But sooner and with less labour is she taken thus take a long small twig or a straw and put it into the hole and draw it out by little and little out she comes presently to her holes mouth as it were to ask what the matter is or who offered that injury to her hole and so is taken From whence cometh the Proverb Stultior Gryllo more silly than the Kricket of him that for every light cause doth betray himself to his enemy and wittingly brings himself into danger They live upon new Panick ripe Wheat and Apples The house Kricket if we may believe Albertus is called of the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but no such name can be found It may be he took a barbarous word for a Greek the English call them house Krickets the Germans Heimgrill In the moneths of July and August they fly but not far nor long and that like the Wood-pecker or Hickway with a waving flight sometimes flying aloft with her wings spread abroad sometimes descending with her wings close to her body the tail is forked The female is the bigger and longer bellied she flyeth with four wings of which the outermost are shorter the innermost narrower and longer the end of the tail hath three prickles or bristles Both the sexes fly aâ—d leap and run and that swiftly they lick in greedily the scum of broth and barm of ale or beer they feed likewise on the matter and liquor that cometh out of corrupted flesh or carrion Of this Insect writeth Albertus thus The Gryllus or Kricket which sings in the night seems to have no mouth as the field Krickets have but there is found in his head a long thing like a tongue and it growes above the outer part of the head and that part is not cloven as the mouthes of other creatures neither is there found in the belly any superfluity at all although it feed on the moisture of flesh and fat of broth to which either powred out or reserved it runs in the night yea although it feed on bread yet is the belly alwaies lank and void of superfluity The Kricket doth not only recreate men weary with labour with their singing but are good for physick also to drive away diseases The Ancients as Scaliger hath observed Exercit. 186. and found it by his own experience to be true did use them in stead of the Cantharides and with the like success It being dug out of the earth with the earth with it is good for the running of the ears Being rubbed between the hands it cureth the disease called St. Anthonies fire as also the swelling of the jawes but this Kricket must be digged out together with its earth with iron and afterwards be rubbed and so the patient will not only be cured for the present but shall be free for a year from having the disease again Plin. l. 30. 4 9 12. They cure also the Parotides i. e. an Impostume or sore coming of
voluntary benevolence for per 〈…〉 l pains receiving no more but a laborious wages and but for you that had also been taken from me Therefore I conclude with the words of St. Gregory to Leontius Et nos bona quae de vobis multipliciter praedicantur addiscentes assidue pro gloria vestrae incolumitate omnipotentem valeamus Dominum deprecari Your Chaplain in the Church of St. Botolph Aldersgate Edward Topsel An Alphabetical Table of all the Creatures described in this First Volum A. ANtalope pag. 1 Ape 2 Munkey 5 More kinds of Apes ibid. Asses of divers kinds 16 c. Alborach and Axis 26 B. BAdger 26 Bear 28 Beover 34 Bâ—son 39 Bonasus 42 Buff 44 Bugle 45 Bull 47 Buselaphus 51 Ox 52 Cow 55 Calf 69 C. CAcus 71 Camel 72 Camel Dromedary 76 Camelopardal 78 Allocamelus 79 Camp 80 Cat ibid. Wilde Cat 84 Colus 85 Cony 86 Indian Pig 88 D. DEer fallow 89 Roe buck 90 â—ragelaphus 93 Haâ—t and Hind 95 Dictyes 108 Dogs ibid. Their kinds ibid. E. EAl of Ethiopia 149 Elephant ibid. Elk 66 F. FErret 170 Fitch or Poulcar 172 Fox 173 Crucigeran Fox 174 G. GEnnet cat 179 Goats and their kinds 181 Gulon 205 Gorgon 206 H. HAre 207 Hedge-hog Horses and their kinds diseases and remedies 230 c. Riding 240. 250 Horsnes and chivalry 246 Furniture for horses 251 Hippelaphus 255 Sea horse 256 Horse flesh and Mares milk 259 Morals and devices concerning horses 260 Hyaena and its kinds 339 I. IBex 347 Ichneumon 349 L. LAmia 352 Lion 355 Lynx 380 M. MArder Martel or Martin 386 Mole 388 Mice and Rats and their kinds 392 c. Musk-cat 427 Mules 431 N. NAides 440 O. OVnce 440 Oryx 442 Otter 444 P. PAnthar Leopard or Libbard 447 Poephagus 455 Porcupine 456 R. REyner or Ranger 458 Rhinoceros 460 S. SErpents 591 c. Sheep and their kinds diseases and cures 464 c. Squirrel 509 Su 511 Subus ibid. Swine and their kinds diseases and cures 512 c. T. TAtâ—s 546 Tiger 547 U. UVicorn 551 Vreox 559 W. WIlde Oxen 561 Weaâ—el 562 Wolf 568 Sea Wolf 580 Z. ZEbel or Sabel 584 Zibet or Sivet-cat 585 THE HISTORY OF Four-Footed Beasts The ANTALOPE THE Antalope called in Latin Calopus and of the Grecians Analopos or Aptolos of this beast there is no mention made among the Ancient Writers except Suidas and the Epistle of Alexander to Aristotle interpreted by Cornelius Nepotius They are bred in India and Syria neer the River Euphrates and delight much to drink of the cold water thereof Their body is like the body of a Roe and they have horns growing forth of the crown of their head which are very long and sharp so that Alexander affirmed they pierced through the shields of his Souldiers and fought with them very irefully at which time his company slew as he travelled to India eight thousand five hundred and fifty which great slaughter may be the occasion why they are so rare and seldom seen to this day because thereby the breeders and means of their continuance which consisted in their multitude were weakned and destroyed Their horns are great and made like a saw and they with them can cut asunder the branches of Osier or small trees whereby it cometh to passe that many times their necks are taken in the twists of the falling boughs whereat the Beast with repining cry bewrayeth himself to the Hunters and so is taken The virtues of this Beast is unknown and therefore Suidas saith an Antalope is but good in part Of the APE AN Ape called in Latin Simia and sometimes Simius and Simiolus of the Greek word Simos viz. signifying the flatnesse of the Nostrils for so are an Apes and called of the Hebrews Koph and plurally â—ophim as it is by S. Jerom translated 1 King 10. 22. From whence it may be probably conjectured came the Latin words Cepi and Cephi for Apes that have tails Sometimes they are called of the Hebrews Bogiah and of the Chaldees Kokin The Italians Saniada Majonio and Bertuccia and a Munkey Gatto Maimone The ancient Grecians Pithecos and the later Mimon and Ark â—â—zanes by reason of his imitation The Moors Bugia the Spaniards Mona or Ximto the French Singe the Germanes Aff the Flemish Simme or Schimmekell the Illyrians Opieze and generally they are held for a subtill ironicall ridiculous and unprofitable Beast whose flesh is not good for meat as a sheep neither his back for burden as an Asses nor yet commodious to keep a house like a Dog but of the Grecians termed Gelotopoios made for laughter Anachaâ—sis the Philosopher being at a banquet wherein divers Jesters were brought in to make them merry yet never laughed among the residue at length was brought in an Ape at the sight whereof he laughed heartily and being demanded the cause why he laughed not before answered that men do but faign merriments whereas Apes are naturally made for that purpose Moreover Apes are much given to imitation and derision and they are called Cercopes because of their wicked wasts deceits impostures and flatteries wherefore of the Poets it is faigned that there were two brethren most wicked fellows that were turned into Apes and from their seat or habitation came the the Pithecusan Islands which Virgil calleth Inarime for Arime was an old Hetrurian word for an Ape and those Islands being the seats of the Giants who being by God overthrown for their wickedness in derision of them Apes were planted in their rooms Apes have been taught to leap sing drive Wagons reigning and whipping the horses very artificially and are very capable of all humane actions having an excellent memory either to shew love to his friends or hateful revenge to them that have harmed him but the saying is good that the threatning of a flatterer and the anger of an Ape are both alike regarded It delighteth much in the company of Dogs and young Children yet it will strangle young Children if they be not well looked unto A certain Ape seeing a Woman washing her Child in a bason of warm water observed her diligently and getting into the house when the Nurse was gone took the Child out of the cradle and setting water on the fire when it was hot stripped the Child naked and washed the Child therewith untill it killed it The Countreys where Apes are found are Lybia and all that desert Woods betwixt Egypt Aethiopia and Lybia and that part of Oaucasus which reacheth to the red Sea In India they are most abundant both red black green dust-colour and white ones which they use to bring into Cities except red ones who are so venereous that they will ravish their Women and present to their Kings which grow so tame that they go up and down the streets so boldly and civilly as if they were Children frequenting the Market places without any offence whereof so many shewed themselves to Alexander standing
their drunken god Bacchus Of the BADGER otherwise called a Brocke a Gray or a Bauson THe Badger could never find a Greek name although some through ignorance have foisted into a Greek Dictionary Melis whereas in truth that is his Latin word Mele or Meles and so called because above all other things he loveth hony and some later writers call him Taxus Tassus Taxo and Albertus Magnus Daxus But whereas in the Scripture some translate Tesson Tahas or Tachasch and plurally Techaseim Badgers yet is not the matter so clear for there is no such beauty in a Badgers skin as to cover the Arke or to make Princes shooes thereof therefore some Hebrews say that it signifieth an Oxe of an exceeding hard skin Onkelus translateth it Sasgona that is a beast skin of divers colours Symmachus and Aquila a jacinct colour which cannot be but the Arabians Darasch and the Persians Asthak yet it may be rather said that those skins spoken of Exod. 25. Numb 4. Ezek. 26. be of the Lynx or some such other beast for Tachasch cometh neer Thos signifying a kind of Wolf not hurtful to men being rough and hairy in Winter but smooth in Summer The Italians call a Badger Tasso the Rhetians Tasoh the French Tausson Taixin Tasson Tesson and sometime Grisart for her colour sometime Blareau and at Paris Bedevo The Spaniards Tasugo Texon the Germans Tachs or Daxs the Illyrians Gezwecz Badgers are plentiful in Naples Sicily Lucane and in the Alpino and Helvetian coasts so are they also in England In Lueane there is a certain wilde beast resembling both a Bear and a Hog not in quantity but in form and proportion of body which therefore may fitly be called in Greek Suarctos for a Gray in short legs ears and feet is like a Bear but in fatness like a Swine Therefore it is observed that there be two kinds of this beast one resembling a Dog in his feet which is is cald Canine the other a Hog in his cloven hoof and is cald Swinish also these differ in the fashion of their snowt one resembling the snowt of a Dog the other of a Swine and in their meat the one eating flesh and carrion like a Dog the other roots and fruits like a Hog as both kinds have been found in Normandy and other parts of France and Sicilie This beast diggeth her a den or cave in the earth and there liveth never coming forth but for meat and easement which it maketh out of his den when they dig their den after they have entred a good depth for avoiding the earth out one of them falleth on the back and the other layeth all the earth on his belly and so taking his hinder feet in his mouth draweth the belly-laden Badger out of the cave which disburdeneth her cariage and goeth in for more till all be finished and emptied The wily Fox never makth a Den for himself but finding a Badgers cave in her absence layeth his excrements at the hole of the Den the which when the Gray returneth if she smell as the savour is strong she forbeareth to enter as noisome and so leaveth her elaborate house to the Fox These Badgers are very sleepy especially in the day time and stir not abroad but in the night for which cause they are called Lucifugae that is avoiders of the light They eat hony and wormes and hornets and such like things because they are not very swift of foot to take other creatures They love Orchards Vines and places of fruits also and in the autumn they grow therewith very fat They are in quantity as big as a Fox but of a shorter and thicker body their skin is hard but rough and rugged their hair harsh and stubborn of an intermingled grisard colour sometime white sometime black his back covered with black and his belly with white his head from the top thereof to the ridge of his shoulder is adorned with strakes of white and black being black in the middle and white at each side He hath very sharp teeth and is therefore accounted a deep-biting beast His back is broad his legs as some say longer on the right side then on the left and therefore he runneth best when he getteth to the side of a hill or a cart-road-way His tail is short but hairy and of divers colours having a long face or snowt like the Zibethus his forelegs being a full span long and the hinder legs shorter short ears and little eyes a great bladder of gall a body very fat betwixt the skin and the flesh and about the heart and it is held that this fat increaseth with the Moon and decreaseth with the same being none at all at the change his forelegs have very sharp nails bare and apt to dig withall being five both before and behind but the hinder very short ones and covered with hair His savour is strong and is much troubled with lice about his secrets the length of his body from the nose which hangeth out like a Hogs nose to the tail or rump is some thirty inches and a little more the hair of his back three fingers long his neck is short and like a Dogs both male and female have under their hole another outwardly but not inwardly in the male If she be hunted out of her Den with Hounds she biteth them grievously if she lay hold on them wherefore they avoid her carefully and the Hunters put great broad collars made of a Grayes skin about their Dogs neck to keep them the safer from the Badgers teeth her manner is to fight on her back using thereby both her teeth and her nails and by blowing up her skin above measure after an unknown manner she defendeth her self against the strokes of men and the teeth of Dogs wherefore she is hardly taken but by devises and gins for that purpose invented with their skins they make quivers for arrows and some shepheards in Italy use thereof to make sacks wherein they wrap themselves from the injury of rain In Italy and Germany they eat Grays flesh and boil with it pears which maketh the flesh tast like the flesh of a Porcupine The flesh is best in September if it be fat and of the two kinds the Swinish Badger is better flesh then the other There are sundry vertues confected out of this beast for it is affirmed that if the fat of a Badger mingled with crude hony and anointed upon a bare place of a horse where the former hairs are pulled off it will make new white hairs grow in that place and it is certain although the Grecians make no reckoning of Badgers grease yet it is a very soveraign thing to soften and therefore Serenus prescribeth it to anoint them that have Fevers or Inflamations of the body Nec spernendus adept dederit quem bestia melis And not to be despised for other cures as for example the easing of the pain of the
affrighted drew the man out of that deadly danger and so ran away for fear of a worse creature But if there be no tree wherein Bees do breed neer to the place where the Bear abideth then they use to anoynt some hollow place of a tree with Hony whereinto Bees will enter and make Hony-combes and when the Bear findeth them she is killed as aforesaid In Norway they use to saw the tree almost asunder so that when the beast climbeth it she falleth down upon piked stakes laid underneath to kill her And some make a hollow place in a tree wherein they put a great pot of water having anoynted it with Hony at the bottom whereof are fastened certain hooks bending downward leaving an easie passage for the Bear to thrust in her head to get the Hony but impossible to pull it forth again alone because the hooks take hold on her skin this pot they binde fast to a tree whereby the Bear is taken alive and blindefolded and though her strength break the cord or chain wherewith the pot is fastened yet can she not escape or hurt any body in the taking by reason her head is fastened in the pot To conclude other make ditches or pits under Apple-trees laying upon their mouth rotten sticks which they cover with earth and strow upon it herbs and when the Bear cometh to the Apple-tree she falleth into the pit and is taken The herb Wolfeban or Libardine is poison to Foxes Wolves Dogs and Bears and to all beasts that are littered blinde as the Alpine Rhaetians affirm There is one kinde of this called Cyclamine which the Valdensians call Tora and with the juyce thereof they poyson their darts whereof I have credibly received this story That a certain Valdensian seeing a wilde Bear having a dart poysoned herewith did cast it at the Bear being far from him and lightly wounded her it being no sooner done but the Bear ran to and fro in a wonderful perplexity through the woods unto a very sharp cliffe of a rock where the man saw her draw her last breath as soon as the poyson had entered to her heart as he afterward found by opening of her body The like is reported of Hen-bane another herb But there is a certain black fish in Armenia full of poyson with the powder whereof they poyson Figs and cast them in those places where wilde beasts are most plentiful which they eat and so are killed Concerning the industry or natural disposition of a Bear it is certain that they are very hardly tamed and not to be trusted though they seem never so tame for which cause there is a story of Diana in Lysias that there was a certain Bear made so tame that it went up and down among men and would feed with them taking meat at their hands giving no occasion to fear or mistrust her cruelty on a day a young maid playing with the Bear lasciviously did so provoke it that he tore her in pieces the Virgins brethren seeing the murther with their darts slew the Bear whereupon followed a great pestilence through all that region and when they consulted with the Oracle the paynim God gave answer that the plague could not cease untill they dedicated some Virgins unto Diana for the Bears sake that was slain which some interpreting that they should sacrifice them Embarus upon condition the Priesthood might remain in his family slew his only daughter to end the pestilence and for this cause the Virgins were after dedicated to Diana before their marriage when they were betwixt ten and fifteen year old which was performed in the month of January otherwise they could not be marryed Yet Bears are tamed for labours and especially for sports among the Roxolani and Lybians being taught to draw water with wheels out of the deepest wels likewise stones upon sleds to the building of walls A Prince of Lituania nourished a Bear very tenderly feeding her from his table with his own hand for he had used her to be familiar in his Court and to come into his own chamber when he listed so that she would go abroad into the fields and woods returning home again of her own accord and would with her hand or foot rub the Kings chamber door to have it opened when she was hungry it being locked it happened that certain young Noble-men conspired the death of this Prince and came to his chamber door rubbing it after the custom of the Bear the King not doubting any evill and supposing it had been his Bear opened the door and they presently slew him There is a fable of a certain wilde Bear of huge stature which terrified all them that looked upon her the which Pythagoras sent for and kept to himself very familiarly using to stroke and milk her at the length when he was weary of her he whispered in her ear and bound her with an oath that being departed she should never more harm any living thing which saith the fable she observed to her dying day These Bears care not for any thing that is dead and therefore if a man can hold his breath as if he were dead they will not harm him which gave occasion to Esope to fable of two companions and sworn friends who travelling together met with a Bear whereat they being amazed one of them ran away and gat up into a tree the other fell down and countetfeited himself dead unto whom the Bear came and smelt at his nostrils and ears for breath but perceiving none departed without hurting him soon after the other friend came down from the tree and merrily asked his companion what the Bear said in his ear Marry quoth he she warn'd me that I should never trust such a fugitive friend as thou art which didst forsake me in my greatest necessity thus far Esop They will bury one another being dead as Tzetzes affirmeth and it is received in many Nations that children have been nursed by Bears Paris thrown out of the City was nourished by a Bear There is in France a Noble house of the Vrsons whose first founder is reported to have been certain years together nourished by a Bear and for that cause was called Vâ—son and some affirm that Arcesius was so being deceived by the name of his mother who was called Arctos a Bear as among the Latines was Vâ—sula And it is reported in the year of our Lord 1274. that the Concubine of Pope Nicholas being with childe as was supposed brought forth a young Bear which she did not by any unlawful copulation with such a beast but only with the most holy Pope and conceived such a creature by strength of imagination lying in his Palace where she saw the pictures of many Bears so that the holy Father being first put in good hope of a son and afterward seeing this monster like himself Rev. 13. for anger and shame defaced all his pictures of those beasts There is a mountain
is so hard and thick that of it the Scythians make breast-plates which no dart can pierce through His colour for the most part like an Asses but when he is hunted or feared he changeth his hew into whatsoever thing he seeth as among trees he is like them among green boughs he seemeth green amongst rocks of stone he it transmuted into their colour also as it is generally by most Writers affirmed as Pliny and Sclinus among the Ancient Stephanus and Eustathius among the later Writers This indeed is the thing that seemeth most incredible but there are two reasons which draw me to subscribe hereunto first because we see that the face of men and beasts through fear joy anger and other passions do quickly change from ruddy to white from black to pale and from pale to ruddy again Now as this beast hath the head of a Hart so also hath it the fear of a Hart but in a higher degree and therefore by secret operation it may easily alter the colour of their hair as a passion in a reasonable man may alter the colour of his face The same things are reported by Pliny of a beast in India called Lycaon as shall be afterward declared and besides these two there is no other among creatures covered with hair that changeth colour Another reason forcing me to yeeld hereunto is that in the Sea a Polypus-fish and in the earth among creeping things a Chamaeleon do also change their colour in like sort and fashion whereunto it may be replyed that the Chamaeleon and Polypus-fish are pilled or bare without hair and therefore may more easily be verse-coloured but it is a thing impossible in nature for the hair to receive any tincture from the passions but I answer that the same nature can multiply and diminish her power in lesser and smaller Beasts according to her pleasure and reserveth an operation for the nails and feathers of birds and fins and scales of fishes making one sort of divers colour from the other and therefore may and doth as forcibly work in the hairs of a Buffe as in the skin of a Chamaeleon adding so much more force to transmute them by how much farther off they stand from the blood like as an Archer which setteth his arm and bow higher to shoot farther and therefore it is worthy observation that as this beast hath the best desence by her skin above all other so she hath a weakest and most timerous heart above all other These Buffes are bred in Scythia and are therefore called Tarandi Scythici they are also among the Sarmatians and called Budini and neer Gelonis and in a part of Poland in the Duchy of Mazavia betwixt Oszezke and Garvolyin And if the Polonian Thuro before mentioned have a name whereof I am ignorant then will I also take that beast for a kinde of Bison In Phrygia there is a territory called Tarandros and peradventure this beast had his name from that Countrey wherein it may be he was first discovered and made known The quantity of this beast exceedeth not the quantity of a wilde Ox whereunto in all the parts of his body he is most like except in his head face and horns his legs and hoofs are also like an Oxes The goodness of his hide is memorable and desired in all the cold Countries in the world wherein only these beasts and all other of strong thick hides are found for the thinnest and most unprofitable skins of beasts are in the hot and warmer parts of the world and God hath provided thick warm most commodious and precious covers for those beasts that live farthest from the Sun Whereupon many take the hides of other beasts for Buffe for being tawed and wrought artificially they make garments of them as it is daily to be seen in Germany Of the Vulgar BUGIL ABugil is called in Latine Bubalus and Buffalus in French Beufle in Spanish Bufano in German Buffel and in the Illyrian tongue Bouwol The Hebrews have no proper word for it but comprehend it under To which signifieth any kind of wilde Oxen for neither can it be expressed by Meriah which signifieth fatted Oxen or Bekarmi which signifieth Oxen properly or Jachmur which the Persians call Kutzcohi or Buzcohi and is usually translated a Wilde-Asse For which beast the Hebrews have many words neither have the Graecians any proper word for a vulgar Bugil for Boubatos and Boubatis are amongst them taken for a kinde of Roe-buck So that this Bubalus was first of all some modern or barbarous term in Africk taken up by the Italians and attributed to this beast and many other for whom they knew no proper names For in the time of Pliny they used to call strange beasts like Oxen or Bulls Vri as now a days led with the same error or rather ignorance they call such Bubali or Buffali The true effigies of the vulgar Bugil was sent unto me by Cornelius Sittardus a famous Physitian in Norimberg and it is pictured by a tame and familiar Bugil such as liveth among men for labour as it seemeth to me For there is difference among these beasts as Aristotle hath affirmed both in colour mouth horn and strength This vulgar Bugil is of a kinde of wilde Oxen greater and taller then the ordinary Oxen their body being thicker and stronger and their limbs better compact together their skin most hard their other parts very lean their hair short small and black but little or none at all upon the tail which is also short and small The head hangeth downward to the earth and is but little being compared with the residue of his body and his aspect or face betokeneth a tameable and simple disposition His fore-head is broad and curled with hair his horns more flat then round very long bending together at the top as a Goats do backward insomuch as in Crete they make bows of them and they are not for defence of the beast but for distinction of kinde and ornament His neck is thick and long and his rump or neather part of his back is lower then the residue descending to the tail His legs are very great broad and strong but shorter then the quantity of his body would seem to permit They are very fierce being tamed but that is corrected by putting an Iron ring through his Nostrils whereinto is also put a cord by which he is led and ruled as a Horse by a bridle for which cause in Germany they call a simple man over-ruled by the advise of another to his own hurt a Bugle led with a ring in his nose His feet are cloven and with the formost he will dig the earth and with the hindmost fight like a Horse setting on his blows with great force and redoubling them again if his object remove not His voyce is like the voyce of an Oxe when he is chased he runneth forth right seldom winding or turning and when he is angred he
runneth into the water wherein he covereth himself all over except his mouth to cool the heat of his blood for this beast can neither endure outward cold nor inward heat for which cause they breed not but in hot Countries and being at liberty are seldom from the waters They are very tame so that children may ride on their backs but on a sodain they will run into the waters and so many times indanger the childrens lives Their love to their young ones is very great they alway give milk from their copulation to their Calving neither will they suffer a Calf of another kinde whom they discern by their smell to suck their milk but beat it away if it be put unto them wherefore their keepers do in such case anoynt the Calf with Bugils excrement and then she will admit her suckling They are very strong and will draw more at once then two Horses wheresore they are tamed for service and will draw Waggons and Plows and carry burdens also but they are not very fit for Carts yet when they do draw they carry also great burthens or loads tyed to their backs with ropes and wantyghtes At the first setting forward they bend their legs very much but afterward they go upright and being over-loden they will fall to the earth from which they cannot be raised by any stripes untill their load or carriage be lessened There is no great account made of their hides although they be very thick Solinus reporteth that the old Britons made Boats of Osier twigs or reeds covering them round with Bugils skins and sayled in them and the Inhabitants of the Kingdom of Caraiani make them bucklers and shields of Bugils skins which they use in Wars the flesh is not good for meat which caused Baptista Fiera to make this Poem Bubalus hine abeat neve intret prandia nostra Non edat hunc quisquam sub juga semper eat For they ingender melancholy and have no good taste being raw they are not unpleasant to behold but sod or rosted they shew a deformed substance The milk of this beast maketh very hard Cheese which tasteth like earth The medicines made of this beast are not many with the horns or hoofs they make rings to wear against the Cramp and it hath been believed but without reason that if a man or woman wear rings made of the horns or hoofs of a Bugil in the time of carnal copulation that they will naturally fly off from their fingers whereas this secret was wont to be attributed to rings of Chrysolytes or Smaragde stones To conclude some teach husbandmen to burn the horns or dung of their Bugils on the windy side of their corn and plants to keep them from Cankers and blasting and thus much of the vulgar Bugil called Bubalus Recentiorum whose beginning in this part of the world is unknown although in Italy and other parts of Europe they are now bred and fostered Of the African BUGIL This creature of African Bugil must be understood to be a wilde beast and not of a tame kinde although Bellonius expresseth not so much Leo in his description of Asrick relateth a discourse of a certain beast called Laut or Daut who is less then an Oxe but of more elegant feature in his legs white horns and black nails which is so swift that no beast can out-run it except a Barbary Horse it is taken most easily in the Summer time with the skin whereof they make targets and shields which cannot be pierced by any weapon except Gunshot for which cause they sell them very dear which is conjectured to be the Bugil that Bellonius describeth although it be not just of the same colour which may vary in this beast as well as in any other and I have a certain Manuscript without the Authors name that affirmeth there be Bugils in Lybia in likeness resembling a Hart and an Oxe but much lesser and that these beasts are never taken asleep which causeth an opinion that they never sleep and that there is another Bugil beyond the Aâ—pes neer the River Rhene which is very fierce and of a white colour There is a horn in the Town-house of Argentine four Roman cubits long which is conjectured to be the horn of some Vrus or rather as I think of some Bugil it hath hung there at the least two or three generations and by scraping it I found it to be a horn although I forgat to measure the compass thereof yet because antiquity thought it worthy to be reserved in so honourable a place for a monument of some strange beast I have also thought good to mention it in this discourse as when Philip King of Macedon did with a dart kill a wilde Bull at the foot of the Mountain Orbelus and consecrated the horns thereof in the Temple of Hercules which were fifteen yards or paces long for posterity to behold Of the BULL ABull is the husband of a Cow and ring-leader of the herd for which cause Homâ—r compareth Agamemnon the great Emperor of the Graecian Army to a Bull reserved only for procreation and is sometimes indifferently called an Oxe as Oxen are likewise of Authors taken for Bulls Virg. Pingue Jolum primis extemplo mensibus anni Fortes invertant boves The Hebrews call him Tor or Taur which the Chaldes call Abir for a strong Oxe so the Arabians Taur the Graecians Tauros the Latines Taurus the Italians Tauro the French Taureau the Germans ein Stier ein Vuucherstier das Vucher ein Mummelstier ein Hogen and ein Bollen the Illyrians Vul and Iunecz by all which several appellations it is evident that the name Taurus in Latine is not derived from Tanouros the stretching out the tayl nor from Gauros signifying proud but from the Hebrew Tor which signifieth great upon which occasion the Graecians called all large great and violent things by the name of Taurol and that word Taurus among the Latines hath given denomination to Men Stars Mountains Rivers Trees Ships and many other things which caused Ioachimus Camerarius to make thereof this aenigmatical riddle Moechus eram regis sed lignea membra sequebar Et Cilicum mens sum sed mons sum nomine solo Et vehor in coelo sed in ipsis ambulo terris That is in divers senses Taurus was a Kings Pander the root of a tree a Mountain in Cilicia a Bull a Mountain in name a Star or sign in heaven and a River upon the earth so also we read of Statilius Taurus and Pomponius Vitulus two Romans It was the custom in those days to give the names of beasts to their children especially among the Troglodytae and that Adulterer which ravished Europa was Taurus the King of Crete or as some say a King that came in a Ship whose Ensign and name was the Bull and other affirm that it was Iupiter in the likeness of a Bull because he had so defloured Ceres
when he begat Proserpina and afterward defloured Proserpina his daughter in the likeness of a Dragon It is reported that when Achelous did fight with Hercules for Deianeira the Daughter of Oeneus King of Calydon finding himself to be too weak to match Hercules turned himself suddenly into a Serpent and afterward into a Bull Hercules seeing him in that proportion speedily pulled from him one of his horns and gave it to Copia the companion of Fortune whereof cometh that phrase of Cornucopia Afterward Achelous gave unto Hercules one of the Horns of Amalthea and so received his own again and being overcome by Hercules hid himself in the River of Thoas which after his own name bending forth into one horn or crook was called Achelous By these things the Poets had singular intentions to decipher matters of great moment under hidden and dark Narrations But there are four reasons given why Rivers are called Taurocrani that is Bul-heads First because when they empty themselves into the Sea they roar or bellow like Buls with the noise of their falling water Secondly because they surrow the earth like a draught of Oxen with a plow and much deeper Thirdly because the sweetest and deepest pastures unto which these cattel resort are near the rivers Fourthly because by their crooking and winding they imitate the fashion of a horn and also are impetuous violent and unresistible The strength of the head and neck of a Bull is very great and his fore-head seemeth to be made for fight having horns short but strong and piked upon which he can toss into the air very great and weighty beasts which he receiveth again as they fall down doubling their elevation with renewed strength and rage untill they be utterly confounded Their strength in all the parts of their body is great and they use to strike backward with their heels yet is it reported by Caelius Titornus a Neat-heard of Aetolia that being in the field among the cattel took one of the most fierce and strongest Buls in the herd by the hinder-leg and there in despite of the Bull striving to the contrary held him with one hand untill another Bull came by him whom he likewise took in his other hand and so perforce held them both which thing being seen by Milo Crotoniates he lifted up his hands to heaven crying out by way of Interrogation to Jupiter and saying O Jupiter hast thou sent another Hercules amongst us Whereupon came the common proverb of a strong armed man This is another Hercules The like story is reported by Suidas of Polydamas who first of all slew a Lyon and after held a Bull by the leg so fast that the beast striving to get out of his hands lest the hoof of his foot behinde him The Epithites of this beast are many among Writers as when they call him Brazen-footed wilde chearful sharp plower warrier horn-bearer blockish great glistering fierce valiant and louring which seemeth to be natural to this beast insomuch as the Grammarians derive Torvitas grimness or lowring from Taurus a Bull whose aspect carryeth wrath and hatred in it wherefore it is Proverbially said in Westphalia of a lowring and scouling countenance Eir sic al 's ein ochs der dem fleschâ—uwer Entlofferist That is he looketh like a Bull escaped from one stroke of the Butcher Their horns are lesser but stronger then Oxen or Kie for all beasts that are not gelded have smaller horns and thicker skuls then other but the Buls of Scythia as is said elsewhere have no horns Their heart is full of nerves or sinews their blood is full of small veins for which cause he ingendereth with most speed and it hardneth quickly In the gall of a Bull there is a stone called Gaers and in some places the gall is called Mammasur They are plentiful in most Countries as is said in the discourse of Oxen but the best sort are in Epirus next in Thracia and then in Italy Syria England Maceconia Phrygia and Belgia for the Bulls of Gallia are impaired by labour and the Buls of Aethicpe are the Rhinocerotes as the Buls of the woods are Elephants They desire the Cow at eight months old but they are not able to fill her till they be two years old and they may remain tolerable for breeders untill they be 12. and not past Every Bull is sufficient for ten Kie and the Buls must not feed with the Kie for two months before their leaping time and then let them come together without restraint and give them Pease or Barley if their pasture be not good The best time to suffer them with their females is the midst of the Spring and if the Bull be heavy take the tayl of an Hart and burn it to powder then moisten it in Wine and rub therewith the genitals of a Bull and he will rise above measure into lust wherefore if it be more then tolerable it must be allayed with Oyl The violence of a Bull in the act of copulation is so great that if he miss the females genital entrance he woundeth or much harmeth her in any other place sending forth his seed without any motion except touching and a Cow being filled by him he will never after leap her during the time she is with Calf wherefore the Egyptians decipher by a Bull in health without the itch of lust a temperate continent man and Epictetus saying of Sustine and Alstine that is Bear and Forbear was emblematically described by a Bull having his knee bound and and tyed to a Cow in the hand of the Neat-herd with this subscription Hard fortune is to be endu el with patience and happiness is often to be feared for Epictetus said Bear and forbear we must suffer â—nâ— any-things and with-hold our fingers from forbidden fruits for so the Bull which swayeth rule among beasts being bound in his right knee abstaineth from his female great with young When they burn in lust their wrath is most outragious against their companions in the same pasture with whom they agreed in former times and then the conquerer coupleth with the Cow but when he is weakened with generation the beast that was overcome setteth upon him afresh and oftentimes overcometh which kinde of love-fight is elegantly described by Oppianus as followeth One that is the chiefest ruleth over all the other herd who tremble at the sight and presence of this their eager King and especially the Kye knowing the insulting jealousie of their raging husband When the herds of other places meet together beholding one another with disdainful countenances and with their loughing terrible voices provoke each other puffing out their flaming rage of defiance and dimming the glistering light with their often dust-beating-feet into the air who presently take up the challenge and separate themselves from the company joyning together at the sound of their own trumpets-loughing voyce in fearful and sharp conflicts not sparing not
mouth if then you perceive no amendment then seethe some Laurel and therewith heat his back and afterward with oil and wine scarifie him all over plucking his skin up from the ribs and this must be done in the sunshine or else in a very warm place For the scabs take the juice of Garlick and rub the beast all over and with this medicine may the biting of a Wolf or a mad Dog be cured although other affirm that the hoof of any beast with Brimstone Oil Water and Vinegar is a more present remedy but there is no better thing then Butter and stale Urine When they are vexed with wormes poure cold water upon them afterward anoint them with the juice of onions mingled with Salt If an Ox be wrinched and strained in his sinews in travel or labour by stumping on any root or hard sharp thing then let the contrary foot or leg be let bloud if the sinews swell If his neck swell let him bloud or if his neck be windiug or weak as if it were broken then let him bloud in that ear to which side the head bendeth When their necks be bald grinde two tile together a new one and an old and when the yoak is taken off cast the powder upon their necks and afterward oil and so with a little rest the hair will come again When an Ox hangeth down his ears and eateth not his meat he is troubled with a Cephalalgie that is a pain in his head for which seethe Thyme in Wine with Salt and Garlick and therewith rub his tongue a good space also raw Barly steeped in Wine helpeth this disease Sometime an Ox is troubled with madness for which men burn them betwixt the horns in the forehead till they bleed sometime there is a Flie which biting them continually driveth them into madness for which they are wont to cast Brimstone and bay sprigs sod in water in the Pastures where they feed but I know not what good can come thereby When Oxen are troubled with fleam put a sprig of black Hellebore through their ears wherein let it remain till the next day at the same hour All the evils of the eyes are for the most part cured by infusion of Hony and some mingle therewith Ammoniack Salt and Boetick When the palat or roof of their mouth is so swelled that the beast forsaketh meat and bendeth on the one side let his mouth be paired with a sharpe instrument or else burned or abated some other way giving them green and soft meat till the tender sore be cured but when the cheeks swell for remedy whereof they sell them away to the Butcher for slaughter it falleth out very often that there grow certain bunches on their tongues which make them forsake their meat and for this thing they cut the tongue and afterward rub the wound with Garlick and Salt till all the fleamy matter issue forth When their veins in their cheeks and chaps swell out into ulcers they soften and wash them with Vinegar and Lees till they be cured When they are liver-sick they give them Rubarbe Mushroms and Gentian mingled together For the Cough and short breath they give them twigs of Vines or Juniper mingled with Salt and some use Betony There is a certain herb called Aâ—plenon or Citteraeh which consumeth the milts of Oxen found by this occasion in Crete there is a River called Protereus running betwixt the two Cities Gnoson and Gortina on both sides thereof there were herds of Cattel but those which fed neer to Gortina had no Spleen and the other which feed neer to Gnoson were full of Spleen when the Physitians endevoured to find out the true cause hereof they sound an herb growing on the coast of Gortina which diminished their Spleen and for that cause called it Asplenon But now to come to the diseases of their breast and stomach and first of all to begin with the Cough which if it be new may be cured by a pinte of Barley meal with a raw Egge and half a pinte of sod wine and if the Cough be old take two pounds of beaten Hysop sod in three pints of water beaten Lentils or the roots of Onions washed and baked with Wheat meal given fasting do drive away the oldest Cough For shortness of breath their Neat-herds hang about their neck Deaths-herb and Harts-wort but if their Livers or Lungs be corrupted which appeareth by a long Cough and leaness take the root of Hasell and put it through the Oxes ear then a like or equall quantity of the juyce of Onions and oil mingled and put into a pinte of Wine let it be given to the beast many dayes together If the Ox be troubled with crudity or a raw evill stomach you shall know by these signes he will often belch his belly will rumble he will forbear his meat hanging down his eyes and neither chew the cud or lick himself with his tongue for remedy whereof take two quarts of warm water thirty stalkes of Boleworts seethe them together till they be soft and then give them to the beast with Vinegar But if the crudity cause his belly to stand out and swell then pull his tail downward with all the force that you can and binde thereunto Mother-wort mingled with salt or else give them a Glyster or anoint a Womans hand with oil and let her draw out the dung from the fundament and afterward cut a vein in his tail with a sharp knife When they be distempered with choler burn their legs to the hoofs with a hot Iron and afterward let them rest upon clean and soft straw when their guts or intrails are pained they are eased with the sight of a Duck or a Drake But when the small guts are infected take fifteen Cypres Apples and so many Gauls mingle and beat them with their weight of old Cheese in four pints of the sharpest wine you can get and so divide it into four parts giving to the beast every day one quantity The excrements of the belly do deprive the body of all strength and power to labour wherefore when they are troubled with it they must rest and drink nothing for three daies together and the first day let them forbear meat the second day give them the tops of wilde Olives or in defect thereof Canes or Reeds the stalks of Lentrske and Myrtill and a third day a little water and unto this some add dryed Grapes in six pintes of sharp wine given every day in like quantity When their hinder parts are lame through congealed bloud in them whereof there is no outward appearance take a bunch of Nettles with their roots and put it into their mouths by rubbing whereof the condensate bloud will remove away When Oxen come first of all after Winter to grasse they fall grasse-sick and pisse bloud for which they seethe together in water Barly Bread and Lard and so give them all together in a drink to the beast some praise the
who had a cave in the earth against the Sun his Den replenished with the heads of men and he himself breathing out fire so that the earth was warmed with the slaughter of men slain by him whose slaughter he fastened upon his own doores being supposed to be the son of Vulcan And there be some that affirm this Cacus to have wasted and depopulated all Italy and at length when Hercules had slain Geryon as he came out of Spain through Italy with the Oxen which he had taken from Geryon Cacus drew divers of them into his cave by their tails but when Hercules missed daily some of Cattel and knew not which way they strayed at last he came to the den of Cacus and seeing all the steps stand forward by reason the cattel were drawn in backward he departed and going away he heard the loughing of the Oxen for their fellows whereby he discovered the fraud of Cacus whereupon he presently ran and took his club the Monster being within his cave closed up the mouth thereof with a wonderful great stone and so hid himself for fear but Hercules went to the top of the Mountain and there digging down the same untill he opened the cave then leaped in suddenly and slew the Monster and recovered his Oxen. But the truth is this forged Cacus was a wicked servant of Evander which used great robbery in the Mountains and by reason of his evill life was called Cacus for Cakos in Greek signifieth evill He was said to breath forth fire because he burned up their corn growing in the fields and at last was betrayed of his own Sister for which cause she was deified and the Virgins of Vesta made Sacrifice to her and therefore it shall be idle to prosecute this fable any farther as Albertus Magnus doth it being like the fable of Alcida which the Poets faign was a Bird of the earth and being invincible burned up all Phrygia and at last was slain by Minerva Of the CAMEL ALthough there be divers sorts of Camels according to their several Countries yet is the name not much varied but taken in the general sense of the denomination of every particular The Hebrews call it Gamal the Chaldeans Gamela and Gamele the Arabians Gemal Gemel Alnegeb Algiazar The Persians Schetor the Saracent Shymel the Turks call a company of Camels traveling together Caravana The Italians and Spaniards call a Camel Camello the French Chameau the Germans Ramelthier all derived of the Latine Camelus and the Greek Camelos The Illyrians call it Vuelblud and the reason of the name Camelos in Greek is because his burden or load is laid upon him kneeling or lying derived as it may seem of Camptein merous the bending of his knees and slowness of pace wherefore a man of a slow pace was among the Egyptians deciphered by a Camel For that cause there is Town in Syria called Gangamela that is the house of a Camel erected by Darius the Son of Hystaspis allowing a certain provision of food therein for wearied and tyred Camels The Epithets given to this beast are not many among Authors for he is tearmed by them rough deformed and thirsting as Iuvenal Deformis poterunt immania membra Cameli And Persius in his fifth Satyre saith Tolle recens primus piper è sitiente Camelo There are of them divers kindes according to the Countries wherein they breed as in India in Arabia and in Bactria All those which are in India are said by Didymus to be bred in the Mountains of the Bactrians and have two bunches on their back and one other on their breast whereupon they lean they have sometimes a Bore for their Sire which feedeth with the flock of she-Camels for as Mules and Horses will couple together in copulation so also will Bores and Camels and that a Camel is so ingendered sometimes the roughness of his hair like a Bores or Swines and the strength of his body are sufficient evidences and these are worthily called Bactrians because they were first of all conceived among them having two bunches on their backs whereas the Arabian hath but one The colour of this Camel is for the most part brown or puke yet there are herds of white ones in India Ptolemeus Lagi brought two strange things into Egypt a black Camel and a man which was the one half white and the other half black in equal proportion the which caused the Egyptians to wonder and marvail at the shape and proportion of the Camel and to laugh at the man whereupon it grew to a Proverb a Camel among the Egyptians for a matter fearful at the first and ridiculous at the last The head and neck of this beast is different in proportion from all others yet the Ethiopians have a beast called Nabim which in his neck resembleth a Horse and in his head a Camel They have not teeth on both sides although they want horns I mean both the Arabian and Bactrian Camel whereof Aristotle disputeth the reason in the third Book of the parts of creatures and fourteenth chapter Their necks are long and nimble whereby the whole body is much relieved and in their neck toward the neather part of the the throat there is a place called Anhar wherein a Camel doth by spear or sword most easily receive his mortal or deadly wound His belly is variable now great now small like an Oxes his gall is not distinguished within him like other beasts but only carryed in great veins and therefore some have thought he had none and asigned that as a cause of his long life Betwixt his thighes he hath two udders which have four speans depending from them like a Cow His genital part is confected and standeth upon a sinew insomuch as thereof may a string be made for the bending of the strongest bow The tail is like the tail of an Ass hanging down to their knees they have knees in every leg having in their former le◠three bones and in the hinder four They have an ancle like an Oxes and very small buttocks for the proportion of their great body their foot is cloven but so that in the under part it hath but two fissures or clefts opening the breadth of a finger and in the upper part four fissures or clefts opening a little and having a little thing growing in them like as is in the foot of a Goose The foot it self is fleshy like a Bears and therefore they are shod with leather when they travail lest the gauling of their feet cause them to tire Avicenna affirmeth that he had seen Camels with whole feet like a Horses but their feet although fleshy are so tyed together with little lungs that they never wear and their manner of going or pace is like a Lyons so walking as the left foot never out-goeth the right whereas all other beasts change the setting forward of their feet and lean upon their left feet while they remove their
hair fit for garment A Cat is in all parts like a Lioness except in her sharp ears wherefore the Poets seign that when Venus had turned a Cat into a beautiful woman calling her Aeluros who forgetting her good turn contended with the Goddesse for beauty in indignation whereof she returned her to her first nature only making her outward shape to resemble a Lion which is not altogether idle but may admonish the wisest that fair and foul men and beasts hold nothing by their own worth and benefit but by the virtue of their Creator Wherefore if at any time they rise against their maker let them think to lose their honour and dignity in their best part and to return to baseness and inglorious contempt out of which they were first taken and howsoever their outward shape and condition please them yet at the best are but beasts that perish for the Lions suffer hunger Albertus compareth their eye-sight to Carbuncles in dark places because in the night they can see perfectly to kill Rats and Mice the root of the herb Valerian commonly called Phu is very like to the eye of a Cat and wheresoever it groweth if Cats come thereunto they instantly dig it up for the love thereof as I my self have seen in mine own Garden and not once only but often even then when as I had caused it to be hedged or compassed round about with thornes for it smelleth marvellous like to a Cat. The Egyptians have observed in the eyes of a Cat the encrease of the Moon light for with the Moon they skin more fully at the full and more dimly in the change and wane and the male Cat doth also vary his eyes with the Sun for when the Sun ariseth the apple of his eye is long toward noon it is round and at the evening it cannot be seen at all but the whole eye sheweth alike The tongue of a Cat is very attractive and forcible like a file attenuating by licking the flesh of a man for which cause when she is come neer to the bloud so that her own spittle be mingled therewith she falleth mad Her teeth are like a saw and if the long hairs growing about her mouth which some call Granons be cut away she loseth her courage Her nails sheathed like the nails of a Lion striking with her forefeet both Dogs and other things as a man doth with his hand This beast is wonderful nimble setting upon her prey like a Lion by leaping and therefore she hunteth both Rats all kind of Mice and Birds eating not only them but also fish wherewithall she is best pleased Having taken a Mouse she first playeth with it and then devoureth it but her watchful eye is most strange to see with what pace and soft steps she taketh birds and flies and her nature is to hide her own dung or excrement for she knoweth that the savour and presence thereof will drive away her sport the little Mouse being able by that stool to smell the presence of her mortal foe To keep Cats from hunting of Hens they use to tie a little wilde Rew under their wings and so likewise from Dove-coates if they set it in the windowes they dare not approach unto it for some secret in nature Some have said that Cats will fight with Serpents and Toads and kill them and perceiving that she is hurt by them she presently drinketh water and is cured but I cannot consent unto this opinion it being true of the Weasell as shall be afterward declared Pontzetius sheweth by experience that Cats and Serpents love one another for there was saith he in a certain Monastery a Cat nourished by the Monkes and suddenly the most parts of the Monks which used to play with the Cat fell sick whereof the Physitians could find no cause but some secret poison and all of them were assured that they never tasted any at the last a poor labouring man came unto them affirming that he saw the Abbey-cat playing with a Serpent which the Physitians understanding presently conceived that the Serpent had emptied some of her poison upon the Cat which brought the same to the Monks and they by stroking and handling the Cat were infected therewith and whereas there remained one difficulty namely how it came to passe the Cat her self was not poisoned thereby it was resolved that for as much as the Serpents poison came from him but in play and sport and not in malice and wrath that therefore the venom thereof being lost in play neither harmed the Cat at all nor much endangered the Monks and the very like is observed of Mice that will play with Serpents Cats will also hunt Apes and follow them to the woods for in Egypt certain Cats set upon an Ape who presently took himself to his heels and climed into a tree after whom the Cats followed with the same celerity agility for they can fasten their clawes to the barke and run up very speedily the Ape seeing himself overmatched with number of his adversaries leaped from branch to branch and at last took hold of the top of a bough whereupon he did hang so ingeniously that the Cats durst not approach unto him for fear of falling and so departed The nature of this beast is to love the place of her breeding neither will she tarry in any strange place although carryed far being never willing to forsake the house for the love of any man and most contrary to the nature of a Dog who will travaile abroad with his master and although their masters forsake their houses yet will not these beasts bear them company and being carryed forth in close baskets or sacks they will yet return again or lose themselves A Cat is much delighted to play with her image in a glasse and if at any time she behold it in water presently she leapeth down into the water which naturally she doth abhor but if she be not quickly pulled forth and dryed she dyeth thereof because she is impatient of all wet Those which will keep their Cats within doors and from hunting birds abroad must cut off their ears for they cannot endure to have drops of rain distill into them and therefore keep themselves in harbour Nothing is more contrary to the nature of a Cat then is wet and water and for this cause came the proverb that they love not to wet their feet It is a neat and cleanly creature oftentimes licking her own body to keep it neat and fair having naturally a flexible back for this purpose and washing her face with her forefeet but some observe that if she put her feet beyond the crown of her head that it is a presage of rain and if the back of a Cat be thin the beast is of no courage or valew They love fire and warm places whereby it often falleth out that they often burn their Coats They desire to lie soft and in the
flesh is sweet for meat of a yellowish colour like the Larde of Swine and therefore not so white as is our vulgar Cony they do not dig like other Conies and for the farther description of their nature I will express it in the words of Munzingerus aforesaid for thus he writeth One of the males is sufficient in procreation for seven or nine of the females and by that means they are made more fruitful but if you put them one male to one female then will the venereous salacity of the male procure abortment It is affirmed that they go threescore daies with young before they litter and I saw of late one of them bear eight at one time in her womb but three of them were stifled They bring forth in the winter and their whelpes are not blinde as are the Conies They are no way so harmful as other are either to bite or dig but more tractable in hand howbeit untamable If two males be put to one female they fight fiercely but they will not hurt the Rabbets As the male is most libidinous so doth he follow the female with a little murmuring noise bewraying his appetite for generation without wrath and these are also called Spanish Conies by Peter Martyr whose nature except in their abundant superfoetation cometh nearer to Hogs then Conies Of the Fallow Deer commonly called a BVCK and a DOE THere are some beasts saith Pliny which nature hath framed to have horns grow out of their head like fingers out of the hand and for that cause they are called Platicerotae such is this vulgar Fallow Deer being therefore called Cervus Palmatus that is a palmed Hart by reason of the similitude the horn hath with the hand and fingers The Germans call this beast Dam and Damlin and Damhiriz The Italians Daio and Danio the French Dain and Daim The Spaniards Garno and Corâ—za the Cretians vulgarly at this day Agrimi and Platogna and Aristotle Prox the Latins Dama and Damula because de manu that is it quickly flyeth from the hand of man having no other defence but her heels and the female 〈…〉 roca and the Polonians Lanii It is a common beast in most Countries being as corpulent as a Hart but in quantity resembleth more a Roe except in colour The males have horns which they lose yearly but the females none at all their colour divers but most commonly branded or sandie on the back like the furrow of a new plowed field having a black strake down all along the back a tail almost as long as a Calves their bellies and sides spotted with white which spots they lose in their old age and the females do especially vary in colour being sometimes all white and therefore like unto Goats except in their hair which is shorter The horns of this beast are carryed about every where to be seen and therefore this is also likely to be the same beast which Aristotle calleth Hippelaphus as some would have it yet I rather think that Hippelaphus was like to that rare seen horse which Francis the first of that name King of France had presented unto him for a gift which was engendred of a Horse and a Hart and therefore can have no other name then Hippelaphus signifying a Horse-hart In the bloud of these kind of Deer are not strings or Fibres wherefore it doth not congeal as other doth and this is assigned to be one cause of their fearful nature they are also said to have no gall in their horns they differ not much from a Harts except in quantity and for their other parts they much resemble a Roe-buck their flesh is good for nourishment but their bloud doth increase above measure melancholy which caused Hiera to write thus of it after his discourse of the Roe Damula adusta magis si matris ab ubere rapta est Huie prior in nostro forte erit orbe locus For the preparation or dressing of a Buck we shall say more when we come to the description of a Hart. Albertus translateth the word Algazel a Fallow Deer and sayeth that the flesh thereof is very hurtful being cold and dry and bringeth the Hemorhoides if it be not well seasoned with Pepper Cinnamon Mustard seed and Hony or else Garlick which caused Juvenal to cry out upon the excess of rich men for their feasts and delicate fare being compared with the Ancients which lived upon fruits in these words following as they are left in his eleventh Satyre Olim ex quavis arbore mensa fiebat At nunc divitibus coenandi nulla voluptas Nil Rhombus nil dama sapit putere videntur Vnguentum atque rosae The dung or fime of this beast mingled with oil of Myrtles increaseth hair and amendeth those which are corrupt If the tongue hereof be perfumed under a leech or tick that sticketh in the throat of man or beast it causeth the leech to fall off presently and the powder of such a tongue helpeth in a Fistula some of the late writers do prescribe the fat of a Moul of a Deer and of a Bear mingled together to rub the head withall for increase of memory Of the second kind of Deer the ROE-BVCKE The representation both of male female Delicium parvo donabis dorcada nato Jactatis solet hanc mittere turba togis The Persians call this beast Ahu The Arabians Thabiu a which cometh neer to the Chalde word the Germans Reeh or Rech and the male Rech-bocke and the female Rech-giese the Illyrians Serna or Sarna the French Chireau and Chevreulsauuage The Spaniard Zorito or Cabronzillo-montes the Italians Capriolo and Cauriolo for the male and Capriola and Cauriola for the female The Grecians Dorcas as the Septuagint do every where translate which Strabo termeth corruptly Zorces also Dorx Kemas Nebrous and vulgarly as at this day Zarkadi and Dorcalis Dorcadion for a little Roe The Latins do also use the word Dorcas in common with the Grecians and beside Caprea and Capreolus for a little Goat for I do not think that any learned man can find any difference betwixt Caprea and Caprealus except in age and quantity The reason of these two latter names is because of the likeness it hath with a Goat for Goats as we shall shew in their description have many kindes distinguished from one another in resemblance but in the horns a Roe doth rather resemble a Hart for the female have no horns at all These beasts are most plentiful in Africk beyond the Sea of Carthage but they are of another kinde then those which Aristotle denyed to be in Africa there are also in Egypt and in Germany and in the Helvetian Alpes Likewise in Catadupa beyond Nilus in Arabia in Spain and in Lycia and it is to be observed that the Lycian Roes do never go over the Syrian Mountains Aelianus doth deliver these things of the Lybian Roes which for the colour and parts of their body may
the body and the hinder legs are covered with longer and harder hairs down to the pastern as I think for no other cause but to defend them from harm in his leaping and the hoof of this beast was more strange for being cloven as was said before the outward hoof in his fore-legs is longer and greater then the inward and contrary in the hinder and the inward clove thereof is longer and greater and the outward smaller and shorter so as on either side you would think one of them was the hoof of a Goat and the other of a Hart both of them hollow and without soals whereof I can give no other reason then the pleasure of nature which hath so provided that whereas this beast liveth among the rocks and sharp places of the Mountains his foot-steps are by his hollow hoofs more firm and stable because by that means the stones and sharp-pointed rock entreth into them to stay them up from sliding but it is more strange in the females hoofs for they have upon the top and upper face of them three or four pleasant impressions as it were of carved or imbroydered flowers if a man mark them earnestly which I think are given unto them only for ornament and delight Either sex loose every year their hoofs and Harts do their horns that nature may shew their resemblance in their feet to a Hart as he doth in their head to a Goat His ear is short like a Goats but his eye genieal stones and tail like a Harts though somewhat shorter The horns like a Rams crooked and distinguished in the middle by a black line all their length which is two Roman feet and one finger and in compass at the root one foot one palm and a half standing one from another where they differ most not above one foot three palms one finger and a half The rugged circles going about them toward the top are bunchy and toward the bottom or root they are low with beaten notches or impressions They are not at the top distant one point from another above one foot and a palm The length of their face from the Crown to the tip of their nose one foot and three fingers the breadth in the fore-head where it is 〈…〉 dest two palms and one finger The height of this beast not above three foot and a half except where his mane standeth and the whole length hereof from the crown of the head to the tail is four feet and a half and two fingers It hath only teeth beneath on the neather chap and those in number not above six neither did I observe any defect in them It cheweth the 〈◊〉 like other cloven-footed beast The nostrils are black from whom the upper lip is divided by a long perpendicular line It is a gentle pleasant wanton beast in the disposition rather resembling a Goat then a Hart desiring the steepest and slipperyest places whereon it leapeth and from whence it is reported that it doth cast down it self head-long upon the horns naturally that by them it may break the violence of his fall or leap and then stayeth his body upon the fore-knees It will run a pace but it is most excellent in leaping for by leaping it ascendeth the most highest Mountains and Rocks The females are greater then the males but not in horn or hair it eateth Grass Oats Cheafil Hay and Bread they bring forth twins every time and this we call in England a Barbary Deer Thus far Doctor Cay Of the HART and HINDE THe male of this beast is called in Hebrew Aial Deut. 14. and the Arabians do also retain that word in their translations the Persians call him Geuazen the Septuagint Elaphos the Graecians at this day Laphe Pelaphe and Saint Jerom for the Latines Cervus the Chaldees Aiclah the Italians Cervo the Spaniards Ciervo the French Cerf the Germans Hirtz or Hirs and Hirsch the Flemmings Hert the Polonians Gelen the Illyrians Ielii elii The female or Hinde likewise termed in Hebrew Aial and sometime Alia and Aielet the Latines and Italians Cerva the Spaniards Cierva the Germans Hinde and Hindin and the Germans more specially Hin and Wilprecht the French Biche and the Polonians Lanii The young Fawns or Calfs of this beast they call in Latine Hinnuli the Graecians Nebros the Hebrews Ofer the Germans Hindcalb Also it is not to be forgotten that they have divers other names to distinguish their years and Countries as for example when they begin to have horns which appear in the second year of their age like bodkins without branches which are in Latin called Subulae they are also called Subulones for the similitude they have with Bodkins and the Germans call such an one Spirzhirtz which in English is called a Spittard and the Italians Corbiati but the French have no proper name for this beast that I can learn untill he be a three yearing and then they call him â—in Gabler which in Latine are called Furcarii And indeed I was once of this opinion that these Subulones were only two-yearing Harts untill I consulted with a Savoyan of Segusium who did assure me from the mouths of men trained up in hunting wilde Beasts from their youth that there are a kinde of Subulones which they call also Brocardi with straight and unforked horns except one branch in the Mountain of Jura near the lake Lemanus and that these also do live among other Harts for there was seen neer a Monastery called the Roman Monastery by certain Hunters in the year 1553. a vulgar Hart with branched horns and his female and likewise with a Subulon or Brocarde which when in pursuit he was constrained to leap from rock to rock to get to the water he brake his leg and so was taken These Brocards are as great in quantity as other vulgar Harts but their bodies are leaner and they swifter in course They have but one branch growing out of the stem of their horn which is not bigger then a mans finger and for this cause in the rutting time when they joyn with their females they easily overcome the vulgar Hart with his branched and forked horns The Hunters call this Brocard the shield-bearer to the residue for by him they are delivered being hunted for whereas it is the nature of the vulgar Hart to get into ditches and hide himself in hollow places when he heareth the Hounds this Beast never coveteth any secret place to cover himself but runneth still in the sight of Dogs who leave the other that hide themselves because they keep this on foot and so when the Hunters are passed by the lurking Harts they return back again being safe both from Nets and Dogs while the poor Brocard is chased unto death The figure of the face and horns I have therefore here expressed the figure of the head of this Beast with his horns which is also called Anamynta or a Burgundian Brocard whose
horn untill he see them all destroyed and whereas the heads hang fast in his skin for avoiding and pulling them forth by a divine natural instinct he flyeth or runneth to the waters where he findeth Sea-Crabs and of them he maketh a medicine whereby he shaketh off the Serpents heads cureth their wounds and avoideth all their poyson this valiant courage is in Harts against Serpents whereas they are naturally afraid of Hares and Conies and will not fight with them It is no less strange that Harts will eat Serpents but the reason is for medicine and cure for sometimes the pores of his body are dulled and shut up sometimes the worms of his belly do ascend into the roof of his mouth while he cheweth his cud and there cleave fast for remedy whereof the Hart thus affected runneth about to seek for Serpents for his devouring of a Serpent is a cure of this malady Pliny saith that when the Hart is old and perceiveth that his strength decayeth his hair change and his horns dry above custom that then for the renewing of his strength he first devoureth a Serpent and afterward runneth to some Fountain of water and there drinketh which causeth an alteration in the whole body both changing the hair and horn and the Writer of the Gloss upon the 42. Psalm which beginneth Like as the Hart desireth the water springs so longeth my soul after God confirmeth this opinion Vincentius Belluacensis affirmeth that Harts eat Serpents for to cure the dimness of their eye-sight But for the ending of this question we must corsider that there are two kindes of Harts one which by the drawing forth of a Serpent out of her hole doth presently kill her by stamping her under feet this eateth that Serpent and runneth to springing water after that he feeleth the poyson to make his body swell and then by drinking doth vomit forth the poyson and in the mean time loseth both hair and horn yet the Monks of Mesaen affirm that the Harts thus poysoned doth only cover her body in the cold water and not drink thereof for that were exitial unto her but she sendeth forth certain tears which are turned into a stone called Bezahar of which shall be more said hereafter The other kinde of Harts when he findeth a Serpent killeth it and doth not eat it and immediately after the victory returneth to feed in the Mountains Harts are opposed by Wolves for many Wolves together doth overcome a Hart and therefore it is but a fable of Strabo that the Wolves and Harts live tame together in the Woods of the Veneti These kinde of Wolves are called Thoes and they especially fear these Wolves when they have lost their horns and feedeth only in the night season which caused Ovid to write thus Visa fugit nymphe veluti perterrita fulvum Câ—rva lupum c. They are afraid also of the first and second kinde of Eagles for with their wings they raise much dust about the Harts and then they being half blinde the Eagles pull out their eyes or else so beat their feathers about their faces that they hinder their sight and cause them to fall down headlong from the Mountains they fear also the ganning of Foxes and the Lynxes do likewise lye in wait to hurt them These are above all other sour-footed Beasts both ingenuous and fearful who although they have large horns yet their defence against other four-footed Beasts is to run away For this cause in ancient time a fugitive Boy or Servant was called a Hart and if he ran away twice Cantharion which Cantharion was a Spartan fugitive that first ran to the enemy and afterward from them came back again to Sparta And Martial thus describeth Alchaeus who being overcome by Philip King of Macedon ran away like a Hart. Trux spiritus ille Philippi Cervorum cursu praepete lapsus abit The Epithets expressing the qualities of this Beast are many as nimble or agile winged or swift-paced full of years quick-footed horned wandering fearful flying fugitive light wood-hunter wilde and lively There are of them very audacious for they will set upon men as they travel through the Woods and it is observed that the wrathful Hart hath few bunches on his horn neither is it so long as others but bunched at the root yet all of them being pressed with Dogs or other wilde Beasts will fly unto a man for succour It is reported by Philip Melancthon that in Locha a town of Saxony there was a Hart which before rutting time would every year leap over the walls and run over Rocks and Mountains and yet return home again untill the time that Duke Frederick dyed and then the Hart went forth but never returned again The male when he feeleth himself fat liveth solitary and secret because he knoweth the weight of his body will easily betray him to the Hunters if he be hunted and pursued The female commonly calveth neer the high ways of purpose to avoid noisome Beasts to her young one who do more avoid the sight of man then her self Also it is reported that Mithredates had a Bull a Horse and a Hart for his guard beside men who would not be brided to suffer Traytors to kill him being a sleep Moreover it is said of Ptolomeus Philadelphe that having a Hinde-Calf given unto him he brought it so familiarly tame and accustomed it to words that at length it seemed to understand the Greek language And Aelianus affirmeth as much of the Harts of India for that language When they are wounded with a Dart and having gotten it out of their body by eating Dittany they most carefully avoid the Sun-beams lest they shine upon the green wound for then it will hardly be cured but above all other arguments of their understanding none is more firm and evident then their swiming for the Harts of Amanus Libanus and Carmell Mountains of Siria when they are to swim over the Sea to the fruitful green trees of Cyprus they come down to the Sea-shore and there they tarry till they perceive a prosperous wind and a calm water which happening the Captain or leader of them doth first of all enter into the water and so the next followeth laying his head upon the Captains buttocks and so consequently all the residue resting their head upon the precedent In the hindmost are the youngest and weakest that so the violence of the floods being broken by the stronger which go before the more infirm which follow may pass with less difficulty Thus sail they along without star or compass to direct them except their own sense of smelling using their legs for Oares and their broad horns for sails And if the formost be weary then slippeth he back to rest his head upon the hindmost and so likewise the second and third as they feel themselves enfeebled untill they arrive at the happy port of good pasture where
growing stronger like Beasts fall to fighting for rule and government but when the combate doth shew the victor and strongest the residue do ever after yeeld obedience to him In like sort do the Harts of Epirus swim to Corcyra and of Cilicia to the Island of Curiadactes They are deceived with musick for they so love that harmony that they forbear their food to follow it Also it is amazed at any strange sight for if a Hunter come behinde a Horse or Bullock laying over his back his Bow and Arrows they stand staring upon the new formed Beast untill the Dart do end their lives At the time of their lust or rutting they are above measure fierce fighting naturally for the female and sometimes wounding one another to death and this falleth out most commonly in the latter end of August at which time Arcturus riseth with the Sun and then it is most natural for the Hindes to conceive In some places in October their lust ariseth and also in May and then whereas at other times the males live a part from the females they go about like lascivious woers seeking the company of their females as it were at the Market of Venus The males in their raging desired lust have a peculiar voyce which the French call by a feigned word Reere and the Germans Brulen and the Latines tearm Rancere and the Beasts so affected Ololygones When they finde the females they are received with fear then in short space one male will cover many females continuing in this carnal appetite a month or two their females do seldon admit copulation being herein like unto Cows by reason of the rigour of the males genital and therefore they sink down on their Buttocks when they feel the genital seed as it hath been often observed in tame Harts and if they can the females run away the males striving to hold them back within their fore-feet but surely herein they differ from all other it cannot well be said that they are covered standing lying or going but rather running for so are they filled with greatest celerity When one Month or six Weeks of their rutting is past they grow tame again laying aside all fierceness and return to their solitary places digging every one of them by himself a several hole or Ditch wherein they lie to asswage the strong savour of their lust for they stink like Goats and their face beginneth to wax blacker then at other times and in those places they live untill some showers distill from the clouds after which they return to their pasture again and live in flocks together as before The female being thus filled never keepeth company with the male again untill her burthen be delivered which is eight months for so long doth she bear her young before her Calving she purgeth her self by eating Seselis or Siler of the Mountain and whereas she never purgeth untill that time then she emptieth her self of pituitous and flegmatique humors Then go they to the places neer the high ways and there they cast forth their Calf for the causes aforesaid being more afraid of wilde Beasts then Men whom she can avoid by flying which when they have seen they go and eat the Seselis aforesaid and the skin which cometh forth of her own wombe covering the young one finding in it some notable medicine which the Graecians call Chorion and not the herb Arum and this she doth before she lye down to give her young one suck as Pliny affirmeth They bring forth but one or very seldom twain which they lodge in a stable fit for them of their own making either in some rock or other bushy inaccessible place covering them and if they be stubborn and wilde beating them with their feet untill they lie close and contented Oftentimes she leadeth forth her young teaching it to run and leap over bushes stones and small shrubs against the time of danger and so continueth all the Summer time while their own strength is most abundant but in the Winter time they leave and forsake them because all Harts are feeble in the Winter season They live very long as by experience hath been often mentioned not only because they have no gall as the Dolphin hath none but for other causes also some affirm that a Raven will live nine ages of a Man and a Hart four ages of a Raven whereunto Virgil agreeth in these verses Ter binis deci sque super exit in annos Iusta senescéntum quos implét vita virorum Hos novies superat vivendo garrula cornix Et quater egreditur cornicis saecula cervus Alipedem cervum ter vincit corvus at illum Multiplicat novies Phoenix reparabilis ales That is as the life of a man is threescore and six so a Raven doth live nine times so many years viz. 528 years The Hart liveth four times the age of the Raven viz. 2112 years The Crow exceedeth the Hart three times viz. 6336. But the Phenix which is repaired by her own ashes surmounteth the Crow nine times and so liveth 57524 years The which I have set down not for truth but for report leaving every reader to the chiefest matter of credit as in his own discretion he conceiveth most probable But it is confessed of all that Harts live a very long life for Pliny affirmeth that an hundred years after the death of Alexander Magnus there were certain taken alive which had about their necks golden Collars with an inscription that they were put on by Alexander In Calabria once called Iapygia and Peucetia there was Collar taken off from the neck of a Hart by Agathocles King of Sicily which was covered with the flesh and fat of the Hart and there was written upon it Diomedes Dianae whereby it was conjectured that it was put on by him before the siege of Trey for which cause the King brought the same and did offer it up in the Temple of Iupiter The like was in Arcadia when Arcesilaus dwelt in Lycosura for he confidently affirmed that he saw an old sacred Hinde which was dedicated to Diana having this inscription in her Collar Nebros eoon ealoon ota es Ilion en Agapenor When Agapenor was in Troy then was I a young Calf taken By which it appeareth that a Hart liveth longer then an Elephant for indeed as they live long before they grow to any perfection their youth and weakness cleaving fast unto them so is it given to them to have a longer life for continuance in ripeness and strength of years These Beasts are never annoyed with Feavers because their flesh allayeth all adventitial and extraordinary heat If he eat Spiders he instantly dyeth thereof except he eat also Wilde Ivie or Sea-crabs Likewise Navew-gentil and Oleander kill the Hart. When a Hart is in his chase he is greatly pained in his bowels by reason that the skin wherein they lie is very thin and
weak and apt to be broken with any small stroke and for this cause he often stayeth to ease himself There is a kinde of thorn called Cactus where withall if a young one be pricked in his legs his bones will never make Pipes Besides these Beasts are annoyed with Scabs and Itches in their head and skin tearmed by the French by a peculiar name Froyer I will not stand upon the idle conceit of Albertus that Waspes and Emmets breed in the heads of Harts for he mistaketh them for the worm before mentioned The skins of this Beast are used for garments in some Countries and in most places for the bottom of Cushions and therefore they chuse such as are killed in the Summer time when they are fat and most spotted and the same having their hair pulled from them are used for Breeches Buskins and Gloves Likewise Pliny and Sextus affirmed that if a man sleep on the ground having upon him a Harts skin Serpents never anoy him whereof Serenus made this Verse Aut tu cervina per noctem in pelle quicscis And the bons of young ones are applyed for making of Pipes It is reported that the bloud of Harts burned together with herb-dragon orchanes orgament and mastick have the same power to draw Serpents out of their holes which the Harts have being alive and if there be put unto it wilde Pellitory it will also distract and dissipate them again The marrow of a Hart hath the same power against Serpents by ointment or perfumed upon coles and Nicander prescribeth a certain ointment to be made of the flesh of Serpents of the marrow of a Hart and Oils of Roses against the bitings of Serpents The fat of a Hart hath the like effects that the marrow hath Achilles that Noble Souldier was said never to have tasted of milk but to be nourished with the marrow of Harts by Chiro as is affirmed by Varinus and Etymologus The like operation hath the tooth as Serenus saith Aut genere ex ipso dentem portabis amicum If the seed of a young Hinde Calf be drunk with Vinegar it suffereth no poison of Serpents to enter into the body that day The perfume of the horn driveth away Serpents and noisome flies especially from the young Calves or from Horses if womens hair be added thereto with the hoof of the Hart. And if men drink in pots wherein are wrought Harts horns it will weaken all force of venom The Magicians have also devised that if the fat of a Dragons heart be bound up in the skin of a Roe with the nerves of a Hart it promiseth victory to him that beareth it on his Shoulder and that if the teeth be so bound in a Roes skin it maketh ones Master Lord or all superior powers exorable and appeased toward their servants and suitors Orpheus in his book of stones commandeth a husband to carry about him a Harts horn if he will live in amity and concord with his wife to conclude they also add another figment to make men invincible The head and tail of a Dragon with the hairs of a Lion taken from between the browes and his marrow the froath or white-mouth of a victorious Horse the nails of a Dog and the nerves of a Hart and a Roe bound up all together in a Harts skin and this is as true as the wagging of a Dogs tail doth signifie a tempest To leave these trifles scarce worthy to be rehearsed but only to shew the vanity of men given over to lying devises let us come to the other natural and medicinal properties not as yet touched The flesh of these Beasts in their running time smelleth strongly like a Goats the which thing is by Blondus attributed also to the flesh of the females with young I know not how truly but I am sure that I have known certain Noble women which every morning did eat this flesh and during the time they did so they never were troubled with Ague and this virtue they hold the stronger if the beast in dying have received but one wound The flesh is tender especially if the beast were libbed before his horns grew yet is not the juice of that flesh very wholesome and therefore Galen adviseth men to abstain as much from Harts flesh os from Asses for it engendereth melancholy yet is it better in Summer then in Winter Simeon Sethi speaking of the hot Countries forbiddeth to eat them in Summer because then they eat Serpents and so are venemous which falleth not out in colder Nations and therefore assigneth them rather to be eaten in Winter time because the concoctive powers are more stronger through plenty of inward heat but withal admonisheth that no man use to eat much of them for it will breed Palsies and trembling in mans body begetting grosse humors which stop the Milt and Liver and Avicen proveth that by eating thereof men in our the quartane Ague wherefore it is good to powder them with salt before the dressing and then seasoned with Peper and other things known to every ordinary Cook and woman they make of them Pasties in most Nations The heart and brain of a Hare or Cony have the power of Triacle for expelling of evill humors but the Liver is intolerable in food the horns being young are meat for Princes especially because they avoid poison It was a cruell thing of King Ferdinand that caused the young ones to be cut out of the Dams belly and baked in Pasties for his liquorous Epicureal appetite The whole nature and disposition of every part of this beast is against poison and venemous things as before recited His bloud stayeth the looseness of the belly and all fluxes especially fryed with Oil and the inferior parts anointed therewith and being drunk in Wine it is good against poisoned wounds and all intoxications The marrow of this beast is most approveable above other and is used for sweet odour against the Gowt and heat of men in Consuptions and all outward pains and weakness as Serenus comprised in one sentence saying Et cervina potest mulcere medulla rigorem Frigoris Likewise the fat and marrow mollifieth or disperseth all bunches in the flesh and old swellings all Ulcers except in the shins and legs and with Venus-navil the Fistula mattery Ulcers in the ears with Rozen Pitch Goose-greace and Goat-sewet the cleaving of the lips and with Calves sewet the heat and pain in the mouth and jawes It hath also vertue being drunk in warm water to aswage the pain in the bowels and small guts or Bloudy flux The gall of a Bull Oil of bayes Butter and this marrow by anointing cureth pain in the knees and loins and other evils in the seat of man in the hips and in the belly when it is costive It procureth flowers of Women cureth the Gowt Pimples in ones face and Ringwormes Absyrtus prescribeth it to be given in sweet wine with wax unto a Horse
hath appointed that place to receive all the venom of the whole Body I should here end the discourse of this beast after the method already observed in the precedents but seeing the manner of the taking hereof being a sport for Princes hath yet been touched but very little it shall not be tedious unto me to abstain from the necessary relation of the subsequent stories for the delightful narration of the hunting of the Hart to the end that as the former treatise hath but taught how to know a Bird in a bush that which insueth may declare the several wayes of catching and bringing the same to hand This is a beast standing amazed at every strange sight even at the hunters bow and arrow coming behind a stalking Horse as is already declared and moreover like as the Roes are deceived by the hissing of a leaf in the mouth of the hunter so also is this beast for while she hearkeneth to a strange noise imitating the cry of a Hind-Calf and proceeding from one man she receiveth a deadly stroke by the other so also if they hear any musical pipings they stand still to their own destruction for which cause the Egyptians decipher a man overthrown by flattery by painting a Hart taken by musick and Varro relateth upon his own knowledge that when he supped in his Lordship bought of M. Piso the Pastour or Forrester after supper took but a Harp in his hand and at the sound hereof an innumerable flock of Harts Boars and other four-footed beasts came about their Cabanet being drawn thither only by the musick in so much as he though he had been in the Roman Circus or Theater beholding the playing spectacles of all the African beasts when the Aedilian Officers have their huntings the like is also reported by Aelianus saving that he addeth that no toil or engine is so assured or unavoidable to draw these beasts within a labyrinth as is musick whereby the Hunter getteth as it were the Hart by the ear for if through attention he hold down his ears as he doth in musick he distrusteth no harm but if once he prick up his ears as he commonly doth being chased by men and dogs an infinite labour will not be sufficient to over-take and compass him It is reported that they are much terrified with the sight of red feathers which thing is affirmed by Ausonius in these Verses An cum fratre vagos dumeta per avia cervos Circundas maculis multa indagine pennae And Ovid also saying Nec formidatis cervos includite pennis And Lucan also Sic dum pavidos formidine cervos Claudat odoratae metuentes aera pennae Of which thing the Hunters make an advantage for when they have found the beast they set their nets where they imagine the beast will flie and then one of them sheweth to the beast on the other side the red feathers hanging on a rope which scareth them in haste into the Hunters nets as S. Jerom testifieth in one of his Dialogues saying Et pavidorum more cervorum dum vanos pennarum evitatis volatus fortissimis retibus implicamini And you saith he speaking to the Luciferian hereticks run away from the vain shaking of feathers like the fearfull Harts while in the mean time you are inclapsed in unavoidable and inextricable nets And this caused Seneca to write that the babe feareth a shadow and wilde beasts a red feather Many times the young Calf is the cause of the taking of his Dam for the Hunter early in the morning before day light watcheth the Hinde where she layeth her young one untill she go and refresh her self with pasture when he hath seen this then doth he let loose his Dogs and maketh to the place where the Hind-Calf was left by his mother The silly Calf lyeth immoveable as if he were fastened to the earth and so never stirring but bleating and braying suffereth himself to be taken except there be rainy weather for the impatience of cold and wet will cause him to shift for himself which if it fall out the Dogs are at hand to over-take him and so being taken is committed to the keeper of the nets The Hinde both hearing and seeing the thraldom of her poor son cometh to relieve him without dread of Hound or Hunter but all in vain for with his dart he also possesseth himself of her but if the Calf be greater and so be able to run with the Dam among the herds they are most hâ—ard to be taken for in that age they run very fast and the fear of Dogs increaseth their agility in so much as to take them among the herds is impossible every one fighting for them But the only way is to single one out of them from the flock and so follow him until he be weary for although he be very nimble yet by reason of his tender age his limbes are not able to continue long The elder Harts are taken in snares and gins laid in ditches and covered with leaves whereby the feet of this beast is snared in wood this kind is described by Xenophon and Pollux and is called in Greek Podestrabe in Latin Pedica of which also the Poets make mention as Virgil Tunc gruibus pedicas retia ponere cervis And this kind is better described by Gratius with whose words I will passe it over as a thing on t of use Nam fuit laqueis aliquis curracibus usus Cervino issere magis conterere nervo Quidque dentatas iligno robere clausit Saepe habet imprudens alieni lucra laboris Fraus tegit insidias habitu mentita ferino Venator pedicas cum dissimulantibus armis Their manner is when they are chased with Dogs to run away with speed yet oftentimes stand still and look back not only to hearken to the hunter but also to rest themselves for in their chase they are ever troubled in their belly as is before declared and sometime they grow so weary that they stand still and are pierced with arrows sometime they run till they fall down dead sometime they take themselves to the water and so are refreshed or else to avoid the teeth of Dogs they forsake the dry land and perish in the floods or else by that means escape scotfree wherefore it must be regarded by every good hunter to keep him from the waters either among the woods or other rough places But herein the subtilty of this beast appeareth that when he is hunted he runneth for the most part to the high wayes that so the savour of his steps may be put out by the treadings of men and he avoid the prosecution of the Hound Their swiftnesse is so great that in the Champaine and plain fields they regard not Dogs for which cause in France they poison Arrows with an herb called Zenicum or Toca and it is a kinde of Aconite or Wolfe-bane which hath power to corrupt and destroy agility of
several and apart one from the other then watch they which of them the Bitch first taketh and carryeth into her kennel again and that they take for the best or else that which vomiteth last of all Some again give for a certain rule to know the best that the same which weigheth least while it sucketh will prove best according to the Verses of Nemesian Pondere nam catuli poteris perpendere vires Corporibusque leves gravibus pernojcere cursu But this is certain that the lighter whelp will prove the swifter and the heavier will be the stronger Other make this experiment first they compass in the Puppies in the absence of the Dam with a little circle of small sticks apt to burn and stinking rags then set they them on fire about the whelpes and that Puppy which leapeth over first they take for the best and that which cometh out last they condemn for the worst As soon as the Bitch hath littered it is good to chuse them you mean to preserve and to cast away the refuse keep them black or brown or of one colour for the spotted are not to be accounted of And thus much of the outward parts and the choise of Dogs The manifold attributes of Dogs among all Writers do decipher unto us their particular nature as that they are called sharp bitter fierce subtil sounding bold eared for attention affable swift speedy clamorous wilde faithful horrible rough fasting cruell ungentle unclean hurtful biting filthy smelling sent-follower watchful mad hoarse and quick-nosed beside many such other both among the Greeks and Latins And likewise you shall read of many particular Dogs and their names appellative both in Greek and Latine which may be remembred also in this place to shew what reckoning all ages have made of this beast for it is necessary that as soon as he beginneth to feed he presently receive a name such are these of two syllables or more as Scylax Speude Alke Rome Lacon Acalanthis Agre Labros Hylactor Alleus Argus one of Vlysses Dogs Asbolus Augeas Aura Bria Polis Bremon Kainon Canache Happarus â—haron Chorax Harpia Lycitas Chiron Lycisca Arcas Dromas Gnome Eba Hybris Hyleus Maira Melampus Orne Lethargos Nape besides infinite other among the antients but among the latter writers Turcus Niphus Falco Ragonia Serpens Ichtia Pilaster Leo Lupus Stella Fulgur Bellina Rubinum Satinus and Furia so that every Nation and almost every man hath a proper and peculiar name for his Dog as well as for his Oxe There is not any creature without reason more loving to his Master nor more serviceable as shall appear afterward then is a Dog induring many stripes patiently at the hands of his Master and using no other means to pacifie his displeasure then humiliation prostration assentation and after beating turneth a revenge into a more servent and hot love In their rage they will set upon all strangers yet herein appeareth their noble spirit for if any fall or sit down on the ground and cast away his weapon they bite him not taking that declining for submissive pacification They meet their Master with reverence and joy crouching or bending a little like shamefast and modest persons and although they know none but their Master and familiars yet will they help any man against another Wilde beast They remember voices and obey their leaders hissing or whisling There was a Dog in Venice which had been three years from his Master yet knew him again in the Market place discerning him from thousands of people present He remembreth any man which giveth him meat when he fauneth upon a man he wringeth his skin in the forehead The Dog which is broad faced like a Lion is most full of stomach and courage yet the tongue or skin of an Hyaena by natural instinct maketh him run away sometimes they will agree with Wolves for they have engendered together and as the Lute strings made of a Wolfe and a Lambe cannot agree in musick but one of them will break so also will a Dogs and a Lambs Aelianus thiâ—keth that Dogs have reason and use Logick in their hunting for they will cast about for the game as a disputant doth for the truth as if they should say either the Hare is gone on the left hand or on the right hand or straight forward but not on the left or right hand and therefore straight forward Whereupon he runneth forth right after the true and infallible foot-steps of the Hare There was a Dog in Africa in a ship which in the absence of the Mariners came to a pitcher of oil to eat some of it and the mouth of the pot being too narrow for his head to enter in because the pot was not full he devised to cast flint stones into the vessel whereby the Oil rose to the top of the Pitcher and so he eat thereof his fill giving evident testimony thereby that he discerned by nature that heavy things will sink down and light things will rise up and flie aloft There is a Nation of people in Ethiopia called Nubae which have a Dog in such admirable estimation that they give unto him the honor of their King for they have no other King but he If he faun they take him for well pleased if he bark or flie upon them they take him for angry and by his gestures and movings they conjecture his meaning for the government of their state giving as ready obedience to his significations as they can to any lively speaking Prince of the world for which cause the Egyptians also picture a Dog with a Kings robe to signifie a Magistrate Those people of Egypt also observe in their religious processions and gesticulations dumb-idle-gods to carry about with them two Dogs one Hawk and one Ibis and these they call four letters by the two Dogs they signifie the two Hemispheres which continually watch and go over our heads by the Hawk the Sun for the Hawk is a hot creature and liveth upon destruction by the Ibis the face of the Moon for they compare the black feathers in this bird to her dark part and the white to her light Other by the Dogs do understand the two Tropicks which are as it were the two porters of the Sun for the South and North by the Hawk they understand the Equinoctial or burning line because she flyeth high by the Ibis the Zodiack and indeed those Painters which could most artificially decipher a Dog as Nicias were greatly reverenced among the Egyptians The like folly or impious beastliness was that of Galba who forsook the precedents of his predecessors in stamping their coin with their own image and imprinted thereupon his sealing ring left him by his forefathers wherein was engraven a Dog bending upon his female I know not for what cause the Star in the midst of Heaven whereunto the Sun cometh about the Calends of July was termed Canis a Dog and the whole time
of the appearance of that Star which is about thirty dayes should be called Dog-dayes but only because then the heat of the Sun doth torment the bodies of men twice so much as at other times whereupon they attribute that to the Star which they call Sirius which rather is to be attributed to the Sun during that time every year Others fable that there is another Star close to him called Orion who was an excellent hunter and after his death was placed among the Stars and the Star Canis beside him was his hunting Dog but by this Star called of the Egyptians Solachim and of the Grecians Astrocynon cometh that Egyptian Cynick year which is accomplished but once in 1460 years Unto this Star were offered many sacrifices of Dogs in ancient time whereof there can be no cause in the world as Ovid well noteth in these Verses Pro Cane sidereo Canis hic imponitur arae Et quare fiat nil nisi nomen habet As among the Carians whereupon came the proverb of Caricum Sacrificium for they sacrificed a Dog in stead of a Goat and the young puppies or whelpes were also accounted amongst the most availeable sacrifices for the pacifying of their Idoll gods The Romans and Grecians had also a custom to sacrifice a Dog in their Lycaean and Lupercal feasts which were kept for the honour of Pan who defended their flocks from the Wolf and this was performed in February yearly either because that the Dogs were enemies to Wolves or else for that by their barking they draw them away in the night time from their City or else because they reckoned that a Dog was a pleasing beast to Pan who was the keeper of Goats so also the Grecians did offer a Dog to Hecate who hath three heads one of a Horse another of a Dog and the third head in the midst of a wilde man and the Romans to Genetha for the safe custody and welfare of all their houshold affairs Their houshold Gods called Lares were pictured and declared to the people sitting in Dogs-skins and Dogs sitting besides them either because they thereby signified their duty to defend the house and houshold or else as Dogs are terrors to Theeves and evill beasts so these by their assistance were the punishers of wicked and evill persons or rather that these Lares were wicked spirits prying into the affaires of every private houshold whom God used as executioners of his wrathful displeasure upon godless men There were Dogs sacred in the Temple of Aesculapius because he was nourished by their milk and Jupiter himself was called Cynegetes that is a Dog-leader because he taught the Arcadians first of all to hunt away noisome beasts by the help of Dogs so also they sacrificed a Dog to Mars because of the boldness of that creature To conclude such was the unmemorable vanity of the Heathens in their gods and sacrifices as it rather deserveth perpetuall oblivion then remembrance for they joyned the shapes of men and beasts together saith Arnobius to make gods Omnigenumque deum monstra latrator Anubis such were their Cynocephali Ophiocephali Anubis Hecate that is as much to say as half Men half Dogs half Serpents but generally all Monsters and for the many imaginary virtues the ancients have dreamed to be in Dogs they also in many places have given unto them solemn funerals in their hallowed Cemiteries and after they were dead they ceased not to magnifie them as Alexander which built a City for the honour of a Dog All this notwithstanding many learned and wise men in all ages have reckoned a Dog but a base and an impudent creature for the Flamen Dialis of Jupiter in Rome was commanded to abstain from touching of Dogs for the same reason that they were prohibited and not permitted to enter into the Castle of Athens and Isle of Delos because of their publick and shameless copulation and also that no man might be terrified by their presence from supplication in the Temples The foolishness of a Dog appeareth in this that when a stone or other thing is cast at him he followeth the stone and neglecteth the hand that threw it according to the saying of the Poet Arripit ut lapidem catulus morsuque fatigat Nec percussori mutua damna facit Sic plerique sinunt vexos elabier hostes Et quos nulla gravant noxia dente petunt Likewise men of impudent wits shameless behaviors in taking and eating meat were called Cynicks for which cause Athenaeus speaketh unto Cynicks in this sort You do not O Cynici lead abstinent and frugal lives but resemble Dogs and whereas this four-footed beast differeth from other creatures in four things you only follow him in his viler and baser qualities that is in barking and license of railing in voracity and nudity without all commendation of men The impudency of a Dog is eminent in all cases to be understood for which cause that audacious Aristogiton son of Cidimachus was called a Dog and the Furies of ancient time were pictured by black Dogs and a Dog called Erinnys Cerberus himself with his three heads signified the multiplicity of Devils that is a Lions a Wolfs and a fawning Dogs one for the Earth another for the Water and the third for the Air for which cause Hercules in slaying Cerberus is said to overcome all temptation vice and wickedness for so did his three heads signifie Other by the three heads understand the three times by the Lion the time present by the Wolf the time past and by the fawning Dog the time to come It is delivered by Authors that the root of Oliander or else a Dogs tooth bound about the arme do restrain the fury and rage of a Dog also there is a certain little bone in the left side of a Toade called Apocynon for the virtue it hath in it against the violence of a Dog It is reported by Pliny that if a live Rat be put into the pottage of Dogs after they have eaten thereof they will never bark any more and Aelianus affirmeth so much of the Weasils tail cut off from him alive and carryed about a man also if one carry about him a Dogs heart or liver or the skin wherein Puppies lie in their dams belly called the Secundine the like effect or operation is attributed to them against the violence of Dogs There is a little black stone in Nilus about the bigness of a Bean at first sight whereof a Dog will run away Such as these I saw at Lyons in France which they called Sea-beans and they prescribed them to be hanged about a Nurses neck to encrease her milk But to conclude the discourse of the baseness of a Dog those two proverbs of holy Scripture one of our Saviour Mat. 7. Give not that which is holy to Dogs and the other of St. Peter 2 Epistle Chap. 2. The Dog is returned to the vomit
rose with speed as if never before he saw his match or adversary worthy his strength and bristling at him made force upon him and the Lyon likewise at the Dog but at the last the Dog took the chaps or snowt of the Lyon into his mouth where he held him by main strength untill he strangled him do the Lyon what he could to the contrary the King desirous to save the Lyons life willed the Dog should be pulled off but the labour of men and all their strength was too little to loosen those ireful and deep biting teeth which he had fastned Then the Indian informed the King that except some violence were done unto the Dog to put him to extream pain he would sooner dye then let go his hold whereupon it was commanded to cut off a piece of the Dogs tail but the Dog would not remove his teeth for that hurt then one of his legs were likewise severed from his body whereat the Dog seemed not apalled after that another leg and so consequently all four whereby the trunck of his body fell to the ground still holding the Lyons snowt within his mouth and like the spirit of of some malicious man chusing rather to dye then spare his enemy At the last it was commanded to cut his head from the body all which the angry Beast endured and so left his bodiless head hanging fast to the Lyons jaws whereat the King was wonderfully moved and sorrowfully repented his rashness in destroying a Beast of so noble a spirit which could not be daunted with the presence of the King of Beasts chusing rather to leave his life then depart from the true strength and magnanimity of minde Which thing the Indian perceiving in the King to mitigate the Kings sorrow presented unto him four other Dogs of the same quantity and nature by the gift whereof he put away his passion and received reward with such a recompence as well beseemed the dignity of such a King and also the quality of such a present Pliny reporteth also that one of these did fight with singular courage and policy with an Elephant and having got hold on his side never left till he overthrew the Beast and perished underneath him These Dogs grow to an exceeding great stature and the next unto them are the Albanian Dogs The Arcadian Dogs are said to be generated of Lyons In Canaria one of the Fortunate Islands their Dogs are of an exceeding stature The Dogs of Creet are called Diaponi and fight with wilde Boars the Dogs of Epirus called Chaonides of a City Chaon are wonderfully great and fierce they are likewise called Molossi of the people of Epirus so tearmed these are fained to be derived of the Dog of Cephalus the first Gray-hound whom stories mention and the Poets say that this Gray-hound of Cephalus was first of all fashioned by Vulcan in Monesian brass and when he liked his proportion he also quickned him with a soul and gave him to Iupiter for a gift who gave him away again to Europa she also to Minos Minos to Procris and Procris gave it to Cephalus his nature was so resistable that he overtook all that he hunted like the Teumesian Fox Therefore Iupiter to avoid confusion turned both the incomprehensible Beasts into stones This Molos 〈…〉 or Molossus Dog is also framed to attend the folds of Sheep and doth defend them from Wolves and Theeves whereof Virgil writeth thus Veloces Spartae caetulâ—s acremque Molossum Pasce sero pingui nunquam custodibus illis Nocturnum stabulis furem incursusque luporum Aut imparatos a tergo horrebis Iberos These having taken hold will hardly be taken off again like the Indian and Persian Dogs for which cause they are called incommodestici that is modi nescii such as know no mean which caused Horace to give counsel to keep them tyed up saying Teneant acres lora molossos The people of Epirus do use to buy these Dogs when they dye and of this kinde were the Dogs of Scylla Nicomedes and Eupolides The Hircanian Dogs are the same with the Indain The Poeonian Persian and Median are called Syntheroi that is companions both of hunting and fighting as Gratius writeth Indociliis dat proelia Medus The Dogs of Loeus and Lacenâ— are also very great and fight with Bores There are also a kinde of people called Cynamolgi neer India so called because for one half of the year they live upon the milk of great Dogs which they keep to defend their Countrey from the great oppression of wilde Cattel which descend from the Woods and Mountains of India unto them yearly from the Summer solstice to the middle of Winter in great numbers or swarms liee Bees returning home to their Hives and Hony-combes These Cattel set upon the people and destroy them with their horns except their Dogs be present with them which are of great stomach and strength that they easily tear the wilde Cattel in pieces and then the people take such as be good for meat to themselves and leave the other to their Dogs to feed upon the residue of the year they not only hunt with these Dogs but also milk the females drinking it up like the milk of Sheep or Goats These great Dogs have also devouted men for when the servant of Diogenes the Cynick ran away from his master being taken again and brought to Delphos for his punishment he was torn in pieces by Dogs Euripides also is said to be slain by Dogs whereupon came the proverb Cunos dike a Dogs revenge for King Archelaus had a certain Dog which ran away from him into Thracia and the Thracians as their manner was offered the same Dog in sacrifice the King hearing thereof laid a punishment upon them for that offence that by a certain day they should pay a talent the people breaking day suborned Euripides the Poet who was a great favourite of the Kings to mediate for them for the release of that fine whereunto the King yeelded afterward as the said King returned from hunting his Dogs stragling abroad met with Euripides and tore him in pieces as if they sought revenge on him for being bribed against their fellow which was slain by the Thracians But concerning the death of this man it is more probable that the Dogs which killed him were set on by Aridaeus and Cratenas two Thessalian Poets his emulators and corrivals in Poetry which for the advancement of their own credit cared not in most savage and barbarous manner to make away a better man then themselves There were also other famous men which perished by Dogs as Actaeon Thrasus and Linus of Thrasus Ovid writeth thus Praedaque sis illis quibus est Laconia Delos Ante diem rapto non adeunda Thraso And of Linus and Actaeon in this manner Quique verecundae speculantem membra Dianae Quique Crotopiaden diripuere Linum Lucian that scoffing Apostate who was first a Christian and afterward endevoured all
probable It is the property of these Dogs to be angry with the lesser barking Curs and they will not run after every trifling Beast by secret instinct of nature discerning what kinde of Beast is worthy or unworthy of their labour disdaining to meddle with a little or vile creature They are nourished with the same that the smaller hunting Dogs are and it is better to feed them with milk then whay There are of this kinde called Veltri and in Italian Veltro which have been procreated by a Dog and Leopard and they are accounted the swiftest of all other The Gray-hounds which are most in request among the Germans are called Windspill alluding to compare their swiftness with the winde the same are also called Turkischwind and Hetzhund and Falco a Falcon is a common name whereby they call these Dogs The French make most account of such as are bred in the Mountain of Dalmatia or in any other Mountains especially of Turkey for such have hard feet long ears and bristle tails There are in England and Scotland two kindes of hunting Dogs and no where else in all the world the first kinde they call in Scotland Ane Rache and this is a foot-smelling creature both of wilde Beasts Birds and Fishes also which lie hid among the Rocks the female hereof in England is called a Brache The second kinde is called in Scotland a Sluth-hound being a little greater then the hunting Hound and in colour for the most part brown or sandy-spotted The sense of smelling is so quick in these that they can follow the foot-steps of theeves and persue them with violence untill they overtake them and if the theef take the water they cast in themselves also and swim to the other side where they finde out again afresh their former labour untill they finde the thing they seek for for this is common in the Borders of England and Scotland where the people were wont to live much upon theft and if the Dog brought his leader unto any house where they may not be suffered to come in they take it for granted that there is both the stollen goods and the theef also hidden The Hunting Hound of Scotland called RACHE and in English a HOUND The SLVTH-HOVND of Scotland called in Germany a SCHLATTHVND The English BLOOD-HOVND WE are to discourse of lesser hunting Dogs in particular as we finde them remembred in any Histories descriptions Poets or other Authors according to the several Countries of their breed and education and first for the British Dogs their nature and qualities hereafter you shall have in a several discourse by it self The Blood-hound differeth nothing in quality from the Scottish Sluth-hound saving they are greater in quantity and not alway of one and the same colour for among them they are sometime red sanded black white spotted and of such colour as are other Hounds but most commonly brown or red The vertue of smelling called in Latine Sagacitas is attributed to these as to the former hunting Hound of whom we will first of all discourse and for the qualities of this sense which maketh the Beast admirable Plautus seemeth to be of opinion that it received this title from some Magicians or sage Wisards called Sagae for this â—e saith speaking of this Beast â—anem hanc esse quidem Magis par fuit nasum aedepol sagax habet It is also attributed to Mice not for smelling but for the sense of their palace or taste and also to Geese In a Dog it is that sense which searcheth out and descryeth the rousts fourms and lodgings of wilde Beasts as appeareth in this verrse of L 〈…〉 s Andronicus Cum primis fida Canum vis Dirige oderisequos ad certa cubilia canes And for this cause it hath his proper Epithets as Odora canum vis promissa canum vis naribus â—â—â—es utilis Pâ—ncianns called this kinde Plaudi for so did Festus before him and the Germans Spurhund and Leidthund Iaghund because their ears are long thin and hanging down and they differ not from vulgar Dogs in any other outward proportion except only in their cry or barking voyce The nature of these is being set on by the voyce and words of their leader to cast about for the sitting of the Beast and so having found it with continual cry to follow after it till it be wearyed without changing for any other so that sometimes the Hunters themselves take up the Beast at least wise the Hounds seldom fail to kill it They seldom bark except in their hunting chase and then they follow their game through woods thickets thorns and other difficult places being alway obedient and attentive to their leaders voyce so as they may not go forward when lie forbiddeth nor yet remain neer to the Hunters whereunto they are framed by Art and discipline rather then by any natural instinct The White Hounds are said to be the quickest sented and surest nosed and therefore best for the Hare the black ones for the Boar and the ded ones for the Hart and Roe but hereunto I cannot agree because their colour especially of the two later are too like the game they hunt although there can be nothing certain collected of their colour yet is the black Hound harder and better able to endure cold then the other which is white In Italy they make account of the spotted one especially white and yellowish for they are quicker nosed they must be kept tyed up 〈◊〉 they hunt yet so as they be let loose now and then a little to ease their bellies for it is necessary that their 〈…〉 be kept sweet and dry It is questionable how to discern a Hound of excellent sense yet as Blondus saith the square and flat nose is the best sign and index thereof likewise a small head having all his legs of equal length his breast not deeper then his belly and his back is plain to his tail his eyes quick his ears long hanging but sometimes stand up his tail nimble and the beak of his nose alway to the earth and especially such as are most silent or bark least There are some of that nature who when they have found the Beast they will stand still untill their Hunter come to whom in silence by their face eye and tail they shew their game Now you are to observe the divers and variable disposition of Hounds in their finding out of the Beast some when they have found the footsteps go forward without any voyce or other shew of ear or tail Again another sort when they have found the footings of the Beast prick up their ear a little but either bark or wag their tails other will wag their tail but not move their ears other again wring their faces and draw their skins through over much intention like sorrowful persons and so follow the sent holding the tail immoveable There be some again which do none of these but wander up and
peradventure it may chance as whether it chanceth seldom or sometime I am ignorant that a piece of flesh be subtilly stolne and cunningly conveyed away with such provisoes and precaveats as thereby all appearance of bloud is either prevented excluded or concealed yet these kinde of Dogs by certain direction of an inward assured notice and privie mark pursue the deed-dooers through long lanes crooked reaches and weary wayes without wandering awry out of the limits of the land whereon these desperate purloiners prepared their speedy passage Yea the natures of these Dogs is such and so effectual is their foresight that they can bewray separate and pick them out from among an infinite multitude and an innumerable company creep they never so far into the thickest throng they will finde him out notwithstanding he lie hidden in wilde Woods in close and overgrowen Groves and lurk in hollow holes apt to harbour such ungracious guests Moreover although they should passe over the water thinking thereby to avoid the pursuite of the Hounds yet will not these Dogs give over their attempt but presuming to swim through the stream persevere in their pursuite and when they be arrived and gotten the further banck they hunt up and down to and fro run they from place to place shift they until they have attained to that plot of ground where they passed over And this is their practise if perdy they cannot at the first time smelling finde out the way which the deed-doers took to escape So at length get they that by art cunning and diligent endevour which by fortune and luck they cannot otherwise overcome In so much as it seemeth worthily and wisely written by Aelianus in his 6. Book and 39. Chapter To enthumaticon kai dialecticon to be as it were naturally instilled into these kind of Dogs For they will not pause or breathe forth from their pursuite untill such time as they be apprehended and taken which committed the fact The owners of such Hounds use to keep them in close and dark kennels in the day and let them loose at liberty in the night season to the intent that they might with more courage and boldness practise to follow the fellon in the evening and solitary hours of darkness when such ill disposed varlets are principally purposed to play their impudent pranks These Hounds upon whom this present portion of our treatise runneth when they are to follow such fellowes as we have before rehearsed use not that liberty to range at will which they have otherwise when they are in game except upon necessary occasion whereon dependeth an urgent and effectual perswasion when such purloyners make speedy way in flight but being restrained and drawn back from running at random with the leame the end whereof the owner holding in his hand is led guided and directed with such swiftness and slowness whether he go on foot or whether he ride on horseback as he himself in heart would wish for the more easie apprehension of these venturous varlets In the borders of England and Scotland the often and accustomed stealing of Cattel so procuring these kind of Dogs are very much used and they are taught and trained up first of all to hunt Cattel as well of the smaller as of the greater grouth and afterwards that quality relinquished and left they are learned to pursue such pestilent persons as plant their pleasure in such practises of purloining as we have already declared Of this kind there is none that taketh the Water naturally except it please you so to suppose of them which follow the Otter which sometimes haunt the land and sometime useth the water And yet nevertheless all the kinde of them boyling and broyling with greedy desire of the prey which by swimming passeth through river and flood plunge amids the water and passe the stream with their pawes But this property proceedeth from an earnest desire wherewith they be inflamed rather then from any inclination issuing from the ordinance and appointment of nature And albeit some of this sort in English be called Braobe in Scotish Rache the cause thereof resteth in the she-sex and not in the general kinde For we Englishmen call Bitches belonging to the hunting kind of Dogs by the tearm above mentioned To be short it is proper to the nature of Hounds some to keep silence in hunting untill such cime as there is game offered Other some so soon as they smell out the place where the beast lurketh to bewray it immediately by their importunate barking notwithstanding it be far and many furlongs off cowching close in his cabbin And these Dogs the younger they be the more wantonly bark they and the more liberally yet oftentimes without necessity so that in them by reason of their young years and want of practise small certainty is to be reposed For continuance of time and experience in game ministreth to these Hounds not only cunning in running but also as in the rest an assured foresight what is to be done principally being acquainted with their Masters watchwords either in revoking or imboldening them to serve the game Of the DOG called the GASE-HOUND in Latin Agasaeus THis kinde of Dog which pursueth by the eye prevaileth little or never a whit by any benefit of the nose that is by smelling but excelleth in perspicuity and sharpeness of sight altogether by the virtue whereof being singular and notable it hunteth the Fox and the Hare This Dog will chuse and separate any beast from among a great flock or herd and such a one will it take by election as is not lanck lean and hollow but well spred smooth full fat and round it followes by direction of the eyesight which indeed is clear constant and not uncertain if a beast be wounded and go astray the Dog seeketh after it by the stedfastness of the eye if it chance peradventure to return and be mingled with the residue of the flock this Dog spyeth it out by virtue of his eye leaving the rest of the Cattell untouched and after he hath set sure sight upon it he separateth it from among the company and having so done never ceaseth untill he have wearyed the Beast to death Our Countreymen call this Dog Agasaeum a Gase-hound because the beams of his sight are so stedfastly setled and unmoveably fastned These Dogs are much and usually occupied in the Northern parts of England more then in the Southern parts and in fieldy lands rather then in bushie and woody places horsemen use them more then footmen to the intent that they might provoke their horses to a swift gallop wherewith they are more delighted then with the prey it self and that they might accustome their Horse to leap over hedges and ditches without stop or stumble without harme or hazard without doubt or danger and to escape with safegard of life And to the end that the riders themselves when necessity so constrained and the fear of further mischief inforced might save themselves
or train The first kind have no peculiar names assigned unto them save only that they be denominated after the bird which by natural appointment he is alotted to take for the which consideration some be called Dogs for the Falcon the Phesant the Partridge and such like The common sort of people call them by one general word namely Spaniels as though these kind of Dogs came originally and first of all out of Spain The most part of their skins are white and if they be marked with any spots they are commonly red and somewhat great therewithall the hairs not growing in such thickness but that the mixture of them may easily be perceived Othersome of them be reddish and blackish but of that sort there be but a very few There is also at this day among us a new kind of Dog brought out of France for we Englishmen are marvellous greedy gaping gluttons after novelties and covetous cormorants o◠things that be seldom rare strange and hard to get and they be speckled all over with white and black which mingled colours incline to a marble blew which beautifieth their skins and affordeth 〈◊〉 seemly show of comeliness These are called French Dogs as is above declared already The DOG called the SETTER in Latin Index ANother sort of Dogs be there serviceable for fowling making no noise either with foot or with tongue whiles they follow the game These attend diligently upon their Master and frame their conditions to such becks motions and gestures as it shall please him to exhibite and make either going forward drawing backward it clining to the right hand or yeelding toward the left in making mention of fowles my meaning is of the Patridge and the Quail when he hath found the bird he keepeth sure and fast silence he stayeth his steps and will proceed no further and with a close covert watching eye layeth his belly to the ground and so creepeth forward like a worm When he approacheth neer to the place where the bird is he lies him down and with a mark of his pawes betrayeth the place of the birds last abode whereby it is supposed that this kind of Dog is called Index Setter being indeed a name most consonant and agreeable to his quality The place being known by the means of the Dog the fowler immediately openeth and spreadeth his net intending to take them which being done the Dog at the customed beck or usuall sign of his Master riseth up by and by and draweth neerer to the fowle that by his presence they might be the authors of their own insnaring and be ready intangled in the prepared net which cunning and artificial indevour in a Dog being a creature domestical or houshold servant brought up at home with offals of the trencher and fragments of victuals is not so much to be marvelled at seeing that a Hare being a wilde and skippish beast was seen in England to the astonishment of the beholders in the year of our Lord God 1564. not only dancing in measure but playing with his former feet upon a tabberet and observing just number of strokes as a practitioner in that art besides that nipping and pinching a Dog with his teeth and clawes and cruelly thumping him with the force of his feet This is no trumpery tale nor trifle toy as I imagine and therefore not unworthy to be reported for I reckon it a requital of my travell not to drown in the seas of silence any special thing wherein the providence and effectual working of nature is to be pondered Of the DOG called the WATER SPANIEL or FINDER in Latin Aquaticus seu Inquisitor THat kinde of Dog whose service is required in fowling upon the water partly through a natural towardness and partly by diligent teaching is indued with that property This sort is somewhat big and of a measurable greatness having long rough and curled hair not obtained by extraordinary trades but given by natures appointment yet nevertheless friend Gesner I have described and set him out in this manner namely powled and notted from the shoulders to the hindermost legs and to the end of his tail which I did for use and customs cause that being as it were made somewhat bare and naked by shearing off such superfluity of hair they might atchieve the more lightness and swiftness and be lesse hindered in swimming so troublesome and needless a burden being shaken off This kinde of Dog is properly called Aquaticus a Water Spaniel because be frequenteth and hath usual recourse to the water where all his game lyeth namely water fowls which are taken by the help and service of them in their kind And principally Ducks and Drakes whereupon he is likewise named a Dog for the Duck because in that quality he is excellent With these Dogs also we fetch out of the water such fowl as be stung to death by any venemous Worm we use them also to bring us our bolts and arrows out of the water missing our mark whereat we directed our levell which otherwise we should hardly recover and oftentimes they restore to us our shafts which we thought never to see touch or handle again after they were lost for which circumstances they are called Inquisitores searchers and finders Although the Duck otherwhiles notably deceiveth both the Dog and the Master by diving under the water and also by natural subtilty for if any man shall approach to the place where they build breed and sit the Hens go out of their nests offering themselves voluntarily to the hands as it were of such as draw neer their nests And a certain weakness of their wings pretended and infirmity of their feet dissembled they go slowly and so leasurely that to a mans thinking it were no masterie to take them By which deceitful trick they do as it were entise and allure men to follow them till they be drawn a long distance from their nests which being compassed by their provident cunning or cunning providence they cut off all inconveniences which might grow of their return by using many careful and curious caveats lest their often hunting bewray the place where the young ducklings be hatched Great therefore is their desire and earnest is their study to take heed not only to their brood but also to themselves For when they have an inkling that they are espied they hide themselves under turses or sedges wherewith they cover and shroud themselves so closely and so craftily that notwithstanding the place where they lurk be found and perfectly perceived there they will harbour without harm except the Water Spaniel by quick smelling discover their deceits Of the DOG called the FISHER in Latin Canis Piscator THe Dog called the Fisher whereof Hector Boetius writeth which seeketh for Fish by smelling among rocks and stones assuredly I know none of that kind in England neither have I received by report that there is any such albeit I have been diligent and busie in demanding the question as well
maketh Childrens teeth to come forth with speed and ease and if their gums be rubd with a Dogs tooth it maketh them to have the sharper teeth and the powder of these Dogs teeth rubbed upon the gums of young or old easeth Tooth-ach and abateth swelling in the gums The tongue of a Dog is most wholesome both for the curing of his own wounds by licking as also of any other creatures The Rennet of a Puppey drunk with Wine dissolveth the Colick in the same hour wherein it is drunk iâ— and the Vomit of a Dog laid upon the belly of a Hydropick man causeth water to come forth at his stool The gall healeth all wheals and blisters after they be pricked with a Needle and mingled with Honey it cureth pain in the eyes and taketh away white spots from them likewise infused into the ears openeth all stoppings and cureth all inward pains in them The Spleen drunk in Urine cureth the Spleenetick the milt being taken from the Dog alive hath the same vertue to help the milt of man The skin of Bitches wherein they conceive their Puppies which never touched the earth is pretious against difficulty in Childe-birth and it draweth the Infant out of the womb The milk of a Bitches first whelping is an antidote against poyson and the same causeth hair never to come again if it be rubbed upon the place where hairs are newly pulled off Also infused into the eyes driveth away the whiteness of them Likewise there is no better thing to anoint the gums of young children withall before they have teeth for it maketh them to come forth with ease it easeth likewise the pain of the ears and with all speed healeth burnt mouths by any hot meat Ora ambusta cibo sanabis lacte Canino The urine of a Dog taketh away spots and warts and being mingled with Salt of Nitre wonderfully easeth the Kings Evill The dung of Dogs called by the Apothecaries Album Graecum because the white is best being ingendred by eating of bones and therefore hath no ill favour Galen affirmeth that his Masters in Physick used it against old sores Bloody flixes and the Quinsie and it is very profitable to stanch the bloud of Dogs and also against the inflamations in the breast of Women mingled with Turpentine It was well prescribed by Avicen to expell congealed bloud out of the stomach and bladder being taken thereof so much in powder as will lye upon a Golden Noble Of the Ethiopian EAL THere is bred in Ethiopia a certain strange Beast about the bigness of a Sea-horse being of colour black or brownish it hath the cheeks of a Boar the tail of an Elephant and horns above a cubit long which are moveable upon his head at his own pleasure like ears now standing one way and anon moving another way as he needeth in fighting with other Beasts for they stand not stiffe but bend flexibly and when he fighteth he alway stretcheth out the one and holdeth in the other of purpose as it may seem that if one of them be blunted and broken then he may defend himself with the other It may well be compared to a Sea-horse for above all other places it loveth best the waters Of the ELEPHANT THere is no creature among all the Beasts of the world which hath so great and ample demonstration of the power and wisdom of Almighty God as the Elephant both for proportion of body and disposition of spirit and it is admirable to behold the industry of our ancient fore-fathers and noble desire to benefit us their posterity by searching into the qualities of every Beast to discover what benefits or harms may come by them to mankinde having never been afraid either of the wildest but they tamed them the fiercest but they ruled them and the greatest but they also set upon them Witness for this part the Elephant being like a living Mountain in quantity and outward appearance yet by them so handled as no little Dog became more serviceable and tractable Among all the Europaeans the first possessor of Elephants was Alexander Magnus and after him Antigonus and before the Macedonians came into Asia no people of the world except the Africans and the Indians had ever seen Elephants When Fabritius was sent by the Romans to King Pyrrhus in Ambassage Pyrrhus offered to him a great sum of money to prevent the War but he refused private gain and preferred the service of his Countrey the next day he brought him into his presence and thinking to terrifie him placed behinde him a great Elephant shadowed with cloth of Arras the cloth was drawn and the huge Beast instantly laid his trunk upon the head of Fabritius sending forth a terrible and direful voyce whereat Fabritius laughing perceiving the policy of the King gently made this speech Neque heri aurum neque hodie bestia me permovit I was neither tempted with thy Gold yesterday nor terrified with the sight of this Beast to day and so afterward Pyrrhus was overcome in War by the Romans and Manlius Curius Dentatus did first of all bring Elephants in Triumph to Rome calling them Lucanae Boves Oxen of the Wood about the 472. year of the City and afterward in the year of Romes building 502. when Metellus was high Priest and overthrew the Carthaginians in Sicily there were 142 Elephants brought in Ships to Rome and led in triumph which Lucius Piso afterward to take away from the people opinions of the fear of them caused them to be brought to the stage to open view and handling and so slain which thing Pompey did also by the slaughter of five hundred Lions and Elephants together so that in the time of Gordianus it was no wonder to see thirty and two of them at one time An Elephant is by the Hebrews called Behemah by way of excellency as the Latins for the same cause call him Bellua the Chaldeans for the same word Deut. 14. translate Beira the Arabians Behitz the Persians Behad and the Septuagint Ktene but the Grecians vulgarly Elephas not Quasi Elebas because they joyn copulation in the water but rather from the Hebrew word Dephil signifying the Ivory tooth of an Elephant as Munster well observeth The Hebrews also use the word Schâ—n for an Elephants tooth Moreover Hesychius called an Elephant in the Greek tongue Perissas the Latins do indifferently use Elephas and Elephantus and it is said that Elephantus in the Punick tongue signifieth Caesar whereupon when the Grandfather of Julius Caesar had slain an Elephant he had the name of Caesar put upon him The Italians call this beast Leofante or Lionfante the French Elephante the Germans Helfant the Illyrians Slon We read but of three appellative names of Elephants that is of one called by Alexander the great Ajax because he had read that the buckler of great Ajax was covered with an Elephants skin about whose neck he
had an Elephant for his rivall and this also did the Elephant manifest unto the man for on a day in the market he brought her certain Apples and put them into her bosom holding his trunk a great while therein handling and playing with her breasts Another likewise loved a Syrian woman with whose aspect he was suddenly taken and in admiration of her face stroked the same with his trunk with testification of farther love the Woman likewise failed not to frame for the Elephant amorous devices with Beads and Corrals Silver and such things as are grateful to these brute Beasts so she enjoyed his labour and dilgence to her great profit and he her love and kindeness without all offence to his contentment which caused Horat. to write this verse Quid tibi vis mulier nigris dignissima barris At last the woman dyed whom the Elephant missing like a lover distracted betwixt love and sorrow fell beside himself and so perished Neither ought any man to marvel at such a passion in this Beast who hath such a memory as is attributed unto him and understanding of his charge and business as may appear by manifold examples for Antipater affirmeth that he saw an Elephant that knew again and took acquaintaince of his Master which had nourished him in his youth after many years absence When they are hurt by any man they seldom forget a revenge and so also they remember on the contrary to recompense all benefits as it hath been manifested already They observe things done both in weight and measure especially in their own meat Agnon writeth that an Elephant was kept in a great mans house in Syria having a man appointed to be his Overseer who did dayly defraud the Beast of his allowance but on a day as his Master looked on he brought the whole measure and gave it to him the Beast seeing the same and remembring how he had served him in times times past in the presence of his Master exactly divided the Corn into two parts and so laid one of them aside by this fact shewing the fraud of the servant to his Master The like story is related by Plutarch and Aelianus of another Elephant discovering to his Master the falshood and privy theft of an unjust servant About Lycha in Africk there are certain springs of water which if at any time they dry up by the teeth of Elephants they are opened and recovered again They are most gentle and meek never fighting or striking Man or Beast except they be provoked and then being angred they will take up a man in their trunk and cast him into the air like an arrow so as many times he is dead before he come to the ground Plutarch affirmeth that in Rome a boy pricking the trunck of an Elephant with a goad the Beast caught him and lift him up into the air to shoot him away and kill him but the people and standers by seeing it made so great a noise and cry thereat that the Beast set him down again fair and softly without any harm to him at all as if he thought it sufficient to have put him in fear of such a death In the night time they seem to lament with sighs and tears their captivity and bondage but if any come to that speed like unto modest persons they refrain suddenly and are ashmed to be found either murmuring or sorrowing They live to a long age even to 200 or 300 years if sickness or wounds prevent not their life and some but to a 120 years they are in their best strength of body at threescore for then beginneth their youth Iuba King of Lybia writeth that he hath seen tame Elephants which have descended from the Father to the son by way of inheritance many generations and that Ptolemaeus Philadelphus had an Elephant which continued alive many Ages and another of Seleucus Nicanor which remained alive to the last overthrow of all the Antiochi The Inhabitants of Taxila in India affirm that they had an Elephant at the least three hundred and fifty years old for they said it was the same that fought so faithfully with Alexander for King Porus for which cause Alexander cald him Aiax and did afterward dedicate him to the Sun and put certain golden chains about his teeth with this inscription upon them Alexander filius Iovis Aiacem Soli Alexander the son of Iupiter consecrateth this Aiax to the Sun The like story is related by Iubo concrrning the age of an Elephant which had the impression of a Tower on his teeth and was taken in Atlas 400 years after the same was engraven There are certain people in the world which eat Elephants and are therefore called of the Nemades Elephantophagi Elephant-eaters as is already declared there are of these which dwell in Daraba neer the Wood Eumenes beyond the City Saba where there is a place called the hunting of Elephants The Troglodytae live also hereupon the people of Africk cald Asachae which live in Mountains do likewise eat the flesh of Elephants and the Adiabarae of Megabari The Nomades have Cities running upon Charriots and the people next under their Territory cut Elephants in pieces and both sell and eat them Some use the hard flesh of the back and other commend above all the delicates of the world the reins of the Elephants so that it is a wonder that Aelianus would write that there was nothing in an Elephant good for meat except the trunck the lips and the marrow of his horns or teeth The skin of this Beast is exceeding hard not to be pierced by any dart whereupon came the Proverb Culicem haud curat Elephas Indiâ—ns the Indian Elephant careth not for the biting of a Gnat to signifie a sufficient ability to resist all evill and Noble mindes must not revenge small injuries It cannot be but in such 〈◊〉 and vast bodies there should also be nourished some diseases and that many as Strabo saith wherefore first of all there is no creature in the world less able to endure cold or Winter for their impatiency of cold bringeth inflamation Also in Summer when the same is hottest they cool one another by casting durty and filthy water upon each other or else run into the roughest Woods of greatest shadow It hath been shewed already that they devour Chamaeleons and thereof perish except they eat a wilde Olive When they suffer inflamation and are bound in the belly either black Wine or nothing will cure them When they drink a Leach they are grievously pained for their wounds by darts or otherwise they are cured by Swines-flesh or Dittany or by Oyl or by the flower of the Olive They fall mad sometime for which I know no other cure but to tye them up fast in Iron chains When they are tyred for want of sleep they are recovered by rubbing their shoulders with Salt Oyl and Water Cows milk warmed and infused into their
eyes cureth all evils in them and they presently like reasonable men acknowledge the benefit of the medicine The medicinal vertues in this Beast are by Authors observed to be these The bloud of an Elepbant and the ashes of a Weasil cure the great Leprosie and the same bloud is profitable against all Rhumatick fluxes and the Sciatica The flesh dryed and cold or heavy fat and cold is abominable for if it be sod and steeped in Vinegar with Fennel-seed and given to a Woman with childe it maketh her presently suffer abortment But if a man taste thereof salted and steeped with the seed aforesaid it cureth an old cough The fat is a good Antidote either by Ointment or Perfume it cureth also the pain in the head The Ivory or tooth is cold and dry in the first degree and the whole substance thereof corroborateth the heart and helpeth conception it is often adulterated by Fishes and Dogs bones burnt and by white Marble There is a Spodium made of Ivory in this manner Take a pound of Ivory cut into pieces and put into a raw new earthen pot covering and glewing the cover with lome round about and so let it burn till the pot be throughly hardned afterward take off the pot and beat your Ivory into small powder and being so beaten sift it then put it into a glass and pour upon it two pound of distilled Rose-water and let it dry Thirdly beat it unto powder again and sift it the second time and put into it again so much Rose-water as at the first then let it dry and put thereunto as much Camphire as will ly upon three or four single Groats and work it all together upon a Marble stone into little Cakes and so lay them up where the air may not corrut 〈…〉 them The vertue hereof is very pretious against spitting of bloud the Bloudy-flix and also it is 〈◊〉 for refrigeration without danger of binding oâ— astriction After a man is delivered from the 〈◊〉 Pestilence or sudden forgetfulness let him be purged and take the powder of Ivory and Hiera 〈◊〉 drunk out of sweet water This powder with Hony-Attick taketh away the spots in the face the same with wilde Mints drunk with water resisteth and avoideth the Leprosie at the beginning The powder of Ivory burnt and drunk with Coatsbloud doth wonderfull cure all the pains and expell the little stones in the reins and bladder Combes made of Ivory are most wholesome the touching of the trunk cureth the Headach The Liver is profitable against 〈…〉 evill the same vertue hath the gall if he have any against the Falling evill The fâ—â—e by anointing cureth a lowfie 〈◊〉 and taketh away that power which breedeth these vermine th 〈…〉 me perfâ—med easeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a 〈…〉 and driveth 〈◊〉 or marshflies out of a 〈…〉 ouse Of the ELK AS the Elphant last handled could not live in any Countrey of the world but in the hot Eastern and Southern Regions so the 〈…〉 the contrary is most impatient of all heat and keepeth not but in the Northern and cold Co 〈…〉 for Polonia and the Countreys under that Climate will not preserve an Elk alive as it hath been often â—ryed by experience for which cause they are not found but in the colder Northern Regi 〈…〉 Prussia Hung 〈◊〉 and Illyria is the Wood Hercynia and among the Borussian-Scy 〈…〉 〈◊〉 most plentiful in S 〈…〉 whi 〈…〉 nias calleth the Celtes for all the Ancients called the Kingdoms of Germany and the North Celtarum Regiones Countreys inhabited by the Celts The Figure of the ELK with Horns This Beast is called in Greek Alke and in Latine Alces or Alce which was a name of one of Actaeons Dogs in Ovid the Turks Valachians the Hungarians Iajus the Illyrians and Polonians Los in the singular and plurally Lossie for many Elks. Albertus Magnus calleth it Alches and Aloy and afterward Equicervus a Horse-Hart The Germans Elch Ellend and Elent by a Metathesis of Alke or Alce and for my part I take it to be the same Beast which Pliny calleth Machlis for there is nothing attributed to an Elk which also doth not belong to Machlis The ELK without Horns I finde not any unreconcileable difference among Authors concerning this Beast except in Caesar lib. 6. of his Commentaries who by the relation of other not by his own sight writeth that there are Elks in the Hercynian Wood like unto Goats in their spotted skins who have no horns nor joints in their legs to bend withall but sleep by leaning unto trees like Elephants because when they are down on the ground they can never rise again But the truth is that they are like to Roes or Harts because Goats have no spotted skins but Deer have and there may easily be a slip from Caprea a Roe to Capra a Goat and Caesar himself confesseth that the similitude is in their spotted skins which are not competible in Goats but in Roes And whereas he writeth that they have no Horns the error of this relator may be this that either he had only seen a young one before the horns came forth or else an old one that had lately lost his horns and by this I suppose that the authority of Caesar is sufficiently answered so as we may proceed to the description of this Beast collected out of the ancient Writers Pausanias Vapiscus Caesar and Solinus Pliny and the later Writers consenting with them in all things excepting Caesar in the two things aforesaid Albertus Magnus Mathaeus Michuanus Seb Munster Erasmus Stella Iohannes Bonarus Baron of Balizce a Polonian Johannes Kentmannus Jo. Pontanus Antonius Schnebergerus Christophorus Wirsungus and that most worthy learned man Georgius Joachimus of Rhaetia and Baoron Sigismund Pausanias snpposeth it to be a Beast betwixt a Hart and a Camel and Albertus betwixt a Hart and a Horse who therefore as it hath been said calleth it Equi-cervus a Horse-Hart but I rather by the horns afterward described and by the foot which Bonarus had do take and hold it to be as big every way as two Harts and greater then a Horse because of the labour and qualities attributed thereunto whereunto also agreeth Albertus In Swedia and Riga they are tamed and put into Coaches or Charriots to draw men through great snows and upon the ice in the Winter time they also are most swift and will run more miles in one day then a Horse can at three They were wont to be presents for Princes because of their singular strength and swiftness for which cause Alciatus relateth in an emblem the answer of Alexander to one that asked him a question about celerity whether haste doth not alway make waste which Alexander denyed by the example of the Elk in these Verses Alciatae gentis insignia sustinet Alce Vnguibus meeden fert anaballomenos Constat Alexandrum sic respondisse roganti Qui tot obivisset tempore gesta brevi
the waters and therein stand taking up water into their mouths and within short space do so heat it that being squirted or shot out of them upon the Dogs the heat thereof so oppresseth and scaldeth them that they dare not once approach or come nigh her any more The greatest vertue of medicine that I can learn or finde to be in this Beast is in the hoof for that worn in a Ring it resisteth and freeth a man from the Falling evill the Cramp and cureth the fits or pangs if it be put on when he is in his foming extremity also scraped into powder and put into Wine and drunk it is used in Polonia against the same evill In like sort they mingle with Triacle and apply it to the heart or else hang it about their neck for an Amulet to touch their skin against that disease and because that both in ancient time and also now adays this Beast is seldom seen and more seldom taken the hoof thereof being so often approved for the uses before said the rarity I say thereof maketh it to be sold very dear which would be if they could be found or taken in more plentiful manner Some Mounte-banks sell in stead thereof a Bugles hoof but it may easily be described by scraping for it is said it smelleth very sweet whereas a Bugles savoureth very ill and strong It is observed also that it hath not this vertue except it be cut off from the Beast while he is yet alive and that in the months of August and September at what time these Elks are most of all annoyed with the Falling-sickness and then it hath strongest vertue to cure it in others Others affirm it wanteth his operation if it be cut off from a young one which never tasted of carnal copulation and so hath not been dulled thereby but howsoever this is certain that some-times it cureth and sometime it faileth and as there can be given no good reason of the cure so I rather ascribe it to a superstitious conceit or belief of the party that weareth it rather then to any hidden or assured work of nature The skins of this Beast are dressed by Tawyers with the fat of fishes and Alum to make breast-plates and to shelter one from rain and they sell them for three or four Nobles a piece but in Cracovia for fifteen Florens It may be discerned from a Harts skin by blowing upon it for the breath will come through like as in a Buffe and the hairs also of this Beast have also hollow passages in them when they grow upon the back of the Beast or else soon after the skin is taken off Some also use the Nerves against the Crampe binding the offended member therewith and herewith do we conclude this story of an Elk referring the reader to the fable of Acida related before in Cacus if he have desire to know it for the affinity betwixt the name thereof and Alces an Elk. Of the FERRET The Latines call this Beast Viverra and Furo and Furetus and Furectus because as shall be afterward manifested it preyeth upon Conies in their holes and liveth upon stealth and in the earth will kill a Cony six times as big as herself but being abroad on the land in the open air is nothing so wilde strong or full of courage From Ictys is derived Iltissus and the German Iltis for a Ferret this is called by the French Furon Furet and Fuson and â—uset by the Spaniards Furon and Furans and from the English Ferret is the German Fret derived by a common Syncope and in the time of Georgius Agricola it was called in Germany Furette and Frettel and the English word seemeth also to be derived from Fretta in Latine which by a like Syncope is contracted of Viverra as to any indifferent learned man it may appear at the first sight of derivation But herein seemeth an unreconcileable diffrence that it is reported of the Ictys by Gaza the intepreter of Aristotle that it was most greedy of Honey and for that cause it will seek out the Hives of Bees and enter them without all fear of stings But when Pliny speaketh of Ictys he doth not call it Viverra or once attribute unto it the love of Honey but rather the hatred and loathing thereof in so high a degree that if he tast of it he falleth into Consumptions and hardly escapeth death And these things Scaliger alleadgeth against Cardan only to prove that Ictys and Viverra are two distinct Beasts and that Cardan was mistaken in affirming that they were but several names expressing one and the same Beast The answer whereunto may be very easie for although Pliny leaveth without rehearsal their love of Hony it doth not necessarily follow that they love it not as Aristotle before him constantly affirmeth and Scaliger nameth no Author nor bringeth any reason to demonstrate their hate of Honey or any harm which insueth them by eating thereof and therefore against his authority may Strabo be opposed who in his third Book speaking of the Conies of Spain and of their Hunters and starters out of their holes he taketh and nameth indifferently without all distinction and exception Viverra and Ictys for the one and other Niphus translateth Ictys a Marrel but without reason for the same man finding in Aristotle that there is war betwixt Locusts and Serpents which is fitly called Ophiomachia whereas Aristotle nameth Akris a Locust he falleth in doubt whether it were not better to be Ictys a Martel or as other copies have it Aâ—pis an Aspe which can by no means agree unto them for there is a kinde of Locusts called Op 〈…〉 mâ—chum because of their continual combates with Serpents And therefore not to stand any longer upon this difference omitting also the conjecture of Tzetzes which confoundeth Ictys with Milvus a Glead or Kyte which cannot stand reasonable because Homer saith there was a kinde of Caps made of the hairs of Ictys nor yet of Albertus his new found name of Anbatinos nor Avicenna his Katyz or the French Fissau which is a Poul-Cat I will descend to the description of the parts and qualities wherein the Authors themselves at variance make their own reconcilement by attributing the same things to the Ictâ—s and Ferret except that of an obscure Author which saith that Ictys is Ankacinor as big as a Gray-hound and that it is wiser and more industrious in his youth and tenderage then in his perfection of strength and years These Ferrets are lesser then the Melitean or Gentlewomens Dogs and they were first of all brought out of Africk into Spain and therefore are called by Strato African We sils because of their similitude with Weasils for Spain Italy France and Germany have not this Beast bred among them but brought to them out of other Countries But in England they breed naturally of the quantity aforesaid and they are tamed to hunt Conies out
of the earth It is a bold and audacious Beast enemy to all other except his own kinde drinking and sucking in the bloud of the Beast it biteth but eateth not the flesh When the Warrener setteth it down to hunt he first of all maketh a great noise to fray all the Conies that are abroad into their holes and so having frighted them pitcheth his Nets and then putteth his tame Ferret into the earth having a long string or cord with Bels about her neck whose mouth he muzzleth that so it may not bite the Cony but only terrifie her out of her borough and earth with her presence or claws which being performed she is by Dogs chased into the nets and there overwhelmed as is aforesaid in the history of the Conies Their body is longer for the proportion then their quantity may afford for I have seen them two spans long but very thin and small Their colour is variable sometime black and white on the belly but most commonly of a yellowish sandy colour like Hermeline or Wool dyed in urine The head little like a Mouses and therefore into whatsoever hole or chink she putteth it in all her body will easily follow after The eyes small but fiery like red hot iron and therefore she seeth most clearly in the dark Her voyce is a whyning cry neither doth she change it as a Cat She hath only two teeth in the neather chap standing out and not joyned or growing together The genital of the male is of a bony substance wherein Pliny and Scaliger agree with Cardan and Strabo for the Ictys also and therefore it alway standeth stiffe and is not lesser at one time then at other The pleasure of the sense in copulation is not in the yard or genital part but in the nerves muscles and tunicles wherein the said genital runneth When they are in copulation the female lyeth down or bendeth her knees and continually cryeth like a Cat either because the Male pincheth and claweth her skin with his sharp nails or else because of the rigidity of his genital And when the female desireth copulation except she be with convenient speed brought to a male or he suffered to come to her she swelleth and dyeth They are very fruitful in procreation for they bring forth seven or eight at a time bearing them in their little belly not above forty days The young ones newly littered are blinde 30 days together and within forty days after they can see they may be set to hunting The Noble men of France keep them for this pleasure who are greatly given to hunt Conies and they are sold there for a French crown Young boys and scholars also use them to put them into the holes of rocks and walls to hunt out birds and likewise into hollow trees where-out they bring the Birds in the claws of their feet They are nourished being tamed with Milk or with Barley bread and they can fast a very long time When they go they contract their long back and make it stand upright in the middle round like a bowl When they are touched they smell like a Martel and they sleep very much being wilde they live upon the bloud of Conies Hens Chickens Hares or other such things which they can finde and over-master In their sleep also they dream which appeareth by whyning and crying in their sleep Whereas a long fly called a Fryer flying to the flaming candles in the night is accounted among poysons the Antidote and resister thereof is by Pliny affirmed to be a Goats gall or liver mixed with a Ferret or wilde Weasil and the gall of Ferrets is held pretious against the poyson of Aspes although the flesh and teeth of a Ferret be accounted poyson Likewise the gall of a Ferret is commended against the Falling disease and not only the gall saith Marcellus but the whole body if it be rosted dressed and eaten fasting like a young pig It is said by Rasis and Albertus that if the head of a Wolf be hanged up in a Dove-cote neither Cat Ferret Weasil Stoat or other noysome Beast dare to enter therein These Ferrets are kept in little hutches in houses and there sed where they sleep much they are of a very hot temperature and constitution and therefore quickly digest their meat and being wilde by reason of their fear they rather seek their meat in the night then in the day time Of the FITCH or POUL-CAT THe difference of a Poul-Cat from the Wilde-Cat is because of her strong stinking savour and therefore is called Putorius of Putore because of his ill smell for all Weasils being incensed and provok't to wrath smell strongly and especially the Poul-Cat likewise when in the Spring time they endeavour procreation for which cause among the Germans when they would express an infamous Whore or Whoremaster they say they stink like an Iltis that is a Fitch or Poul-Cat The French call this Beast Putois and Poytois as it is to be found in Carolus Figulus the Savoyans Poutte 〈…〉 the Illyrians and Bohemians Tchorz and the Polonians Vudra and Scaliger calleth it in Latine Catum fuinam by another name then Putorius It is greater then an ordinary Weasil but lesser then the wilde Martel and yet commonly fatter the hairs of it are neither smooth and of one length or of one colour for the short hairs are somewhat yellowish and the long ones black so as one would think that in many places of the body there were spots of divers colours but yet about the mouth it is most ordinarily white The skin is stiff harsh and rugged in handling and therefore long lasting in Garments yet because the Beast is alway fat the savour of it is so rank that it is not in any great request and moreover it is said that it offendeth the head and procureth ach therein and therefore it is sold cheaper then a Fox skin and the fattest is alway the worst of all The Skinners approve the skins of Fitches and Martels best which are killed in Winter because their flesh and lust is much lower and therefore rendereth a less hurtfull smell then at other times The tail is not above two hands or palms long and therefore shorter then is a Martels In all other parts of the body it equalleth a Martell or exceedeth very little having thinner necks but larger and greater bellies the tail legs and breast are also of a blacker colour but the belly and sides more yellow Some have delivered that the left legs thereof are shorter then the right legs but this is found untrue by daily experience They keep in the tops of houses and secret corners delighting to kill and eat Hens and Chickens whose craft in devouring his prey is singular for to the intent that the silly creatures to be devoured may not bewray them to the House-keepers the first part that they lay hold upon with their mouths is the head of the Hen and
they fail and wax dry the hair also shorteneth with them and as it were rotteth away in length but if they abound and overflow then do they loosen the roots of the hair and cause them to fall off totally This disease is called Alopecia and the other Ophiasis because it is not general but only particular in one member or part of the body or head and there it windeth or indenteth like a Serpents figure Michael Ferus affirmeth that sometime the liver of the Fox inflameth and then it is not cured but by the Ulcerous blood flowing to the skin and that evill blood causeth the Alopecia or falling away of the hair for which cause as is already said a Foxes skin is little worth that is taken in the Summer time The length of the life of a Fox is not certainly known yet as Stumpsius and others affirm it is longer then the life of a Dog If the urine of a Fox fall upon the grasse or other herbs it dryeth and killeth them and the earth remaineth barren ever afterward The savour of a Fox is more strong then of any other vulgar beast he stinketh at nose and tail for which cause Martial calleth it Olidam Vulpem an Olent or smelling beast Hic olidam clamosus ages in retia vulpem Touching the hunting or taking of Foxes I approve the opinion of Xenophon who avoucheth Leporum capturam venatico studio quam vulpium digniorem that is the hunting of the Hare is a more noble game or pastime then the hunting of the Fox This beast is more fearful of a Dog then a Hare for the only barking of Dogs causeth him to rise many times from his den or lodgings out of the earth or from the middle of bushes briars and brambles wherein he hid himself and for his hunting this is to be observed that as in hunting of a Hart it hath been already related the Hunter must drive the beast with the winde because it hindereth his refrigeration so in hunting of a Fox he drive him against the winde and then he preventeth all his crafty and subtill agitations and devises for it stayeth his speed in running and also keepeth his savour fresh alway in the nose of the Dogs that follow him for the Dogs that kill a Fox must be swift strong and quick sented and it is not good to put on a few at once but a good company together for be assured the Fox will not lose his own bloud till he hazzard some of his enemies and with his tail which he windeth every way doth he delude the Hunters when the Dogs are pressed neer unto him and are ready to bite him he striketh his tail betwixt his legs and with his own urine wetteth the same and so instantly striketh it into the Dogs mouths whereof when they have tasted so many of them as it toucheth will commonly leave off and follow no farther Their teeth are exceeding sharp and therefore they fear not to assault or contend with beasts exceeding their stature strength and quantity Sometime he leapeth up into a tree and there standeth to be seen and bayed at by the Dogs and Hunters like as a Champion in some Fort or Castle and although fire be cast at him yet will he not descend down among the Dogs yea he endureth to be beaten and pierced with Hunters spears but at length being compelled to forsake his hold and give over to his enemies down he leapeth falling upon the crew of barking Dogs like a flash of lightning and where he layeth hold there he never looseth teeth or asswageth wrath till other Dogs have torn his limbs and driven breath out of his body If at any time he take the earth then with Terriar Dogs they ferret him out of his den again In some places they take upon them to take him with nets which seldom proveth because with his teeth he teareth them in pieces yet by Calentius this devise is allowed in this Verse Et laqueo Vulpes decipe casse fuinas But this must be wrought under the earth in the caves dens or surrowes made of purpose which is to be performed two manner of wayes one by placing the Gin in some perch of wood so as that as soon as the beast is taken by the Neck it may presently flie up and hang him for otherwise with his teeth he will shear it asunder and escape away alive or else that neer the place where the rope is fastened to slip upon the head of the Fox there be placed some thick collar or brace so as he can never bite it asunder The French have a kinde of Gin to take by the legs which they call Hausepied and I have heard of some which have found the Foxes leg in the same Gin bitten off with his own teeth from his body rather putting himself to that torment with his own teeth then to expect the mercy of the Hunter and so went away upon three feet and other have counterfeited themselves dead restraining their breath and winking not stirring any member when they saw the Hunter come to take them out of the Gin who coming and taking his leg forth not suspecting any life in them so soon as the Fox perceiveth himself free away he went and never gave thanks for his deliverance for this cause Blondus saith truly that only wise and old Hunters are fit to take Foxes for they have so many devises to beguile men and deliver themselves that it is hard to know when he is safely taken untill he be throughly dead They also use to set up Gins for them baited with Chickens in bushes and hedges but if the setter be not at hand so soon as the Fox is insnared it is dangerous but that the beast will deliver it self In some places again they set up an iron toile having in it a ring for the Fox to thrust in his head and through that sharp pikes at the farther end whereof is placed a piece of flesh so that when the hungry Fox cometh to bite at the meat and thrusteth in his head the pikes stick fast in his neck and he inevitably insnared Moreover as the harmefulness of this beast hath troubled many so also they have devised more engins to deceive and take him for this cause there is another policy to kill him by a bow full bent with a sharp arrow and so tenderly placed as is a trap for a Mouse and as soon as ever the Fox treadeth thereon presently the arrow is discharged into his own bowels by the weight of his foot Again for the killing of this beast they use this sleight they take of Bacon-grease or Bacon as much as ones hand and rost the same a little and therewith anoint their shooe-soles and then take the liver of a Hog cut in pieces and as they come out of the wood where the beast lodgeth they must scatter the said pieces in their foot-steps
perswading themselves thereby that they received no small advantage in their Grapes The gall of a female Goat put into a vessel and set in the earth is said by Albertus to have a natural power to draw Goats unto it as though they received great commodity thereby Likewise if you would have white hairs to grow in any part of a Horse shave off the hair and anoint the place with a gall of a Goat so shall you have your desire The Sabaeans by reason of continual use of Myrrhe and Frankincense grow to a loathing of that savour for remedy of which annoyance they perfume their houses by burning storax in Goats-skins And thus much for the several parts of a Goat There were in ancient time three kindes of Heards-men which received dignity one above another the first were called Bucolici Neat-heard because they keep the greater Cattel the second were Opiliones Shepheards of their attendance upon Sheep the third last and lowest kinde were termed Aepoli and Caprarii that is Goat-heards or Keepers of Goats and such were the Locrensians who were called Ozolae because of their filthy smell for they had the most part of their conversation among other Beasts A Goat-heard or Keeper of these Cattel must be sharp stern hard laborious patient bold and chearful and such a one as can easily run over the Rocks through the Wilderness and among the bushes without fear or grief so that he must not follow his flock like other heards but go before them they must also be light and nimble to follow the wandering Goats that run away from their fellows and so bring them back again for Goats are nimble moveable and inconstant and therefore apt to depart away except they be restrained by the herd and his Dog Neither have Goats a Captain or Bell-bearer like unto Sheep whom they follow but every one is directed after his own will and herein appeareth the pride of this Beast that he scorneth to come behinde either Cattel or Sheep but always goeth before and also in their own herds among themselves the Buck goeth before the female for the reverence of his beard as Aelianus saith the labour of the Goat-herd must be to see his Cattel well fed abroad in the day time and well soulded at night the first rule therefore in this husbandry is to divide the flocks and not to put any great number of them together for herein they differ from Sheep who love to live together in multitudes as it were affecting society by which they thrive better and mourn not so much as when they are alone but Goats love singularity and may well be called Schismaticks among Cattel and therefore they thrive best lying together in small numbers otherwise in great flocks they are soon infected with the pestilence and therefore in France they care not to have Magnos Greges sed plures not great flocks but many The number of their flock ought not to exceed fifty whereupon Varro writeth this story of Gab 〈…〉 us a Roman Knight who had a field under the Suburbs containing a thousand Akers of pasture ground who seeing a poor Goat-herd bring his Goats every day to the City and received for their milk a peny a peece he being led with covetousness proponed to himself this gain that if he stored his said field with a thousand Milch-female-goats he also should receive for their milk a thousand pence a day whereupon he added action to his intent and filled his field with a thousand Goats but the event fell out otherways then he expected sor in short time the multitude insected one another and so he lost both milk and flesh whereby it is apparent that it is not safe to feed great flocks of these Cattel together In India in the Region Coitha the Inhabitants give their Milch-goats dryed fishes to eat but their ordinary food is leaves tender branches and boughs of trees and also bushes or brambles where-upon Virgil wrote in this manner Pascuntur verò silvas summa Lycaei Horrenfesque rubos amantes ardua dumos They love to feed on the Mountains better then in the Vallies and green Fields always striving to lick up the Ivie or green plants or to climbe upon trees cropping off with their teeth all manner wilde herbs and if they be restrained and enclosed in fields then they do the like to the plants that they finde there wherefore there was an ancient law among the Romans when a man let out his ground to farm he should always condition and except with the Farmer that he should not breed any Goat in his ground for their teeth are enemies to all tender plants their teeth are also exitiable to a tree and Pliny and Varro affirm that the Goat by licking the Olive-tree maketh it barren for which cause in ancient time a Goat was not sacrificed to Minerva to whom the Olive was sacred There is no creature that feedeth upon such diversity of meat as Goats for which cause they are elegantly brought in by Eupolis the old Poet bragging of their belly chear wherein they number up above five and twenty several things different in name nature and taste and for this cause Eustathius defended by strong argument against Disarius that men and cattel which feed upon divers things have less health then those Beasts which eat one kinde of fruit alone They love Tamerisk Aldern Elm-tree Assaraback and a tree called Alaternus which never beareth fruit but only leaves also three-leaved-grass Ivie the herb Lada which groweth no where but in Arabia whereby it cometh to pass that many times the hair of Goats is found in the gumb called Ladanum for the peoples greedy desire of the gumb causeth them to wipe the juyce from the Goats beard For the increase of milk in them give them Cinquefoyl five days together before they drink or else binde Dittany to their bellies or as Lacuna translateth the words out of Alrieanus you may lay milk to their bellies belike by rubbing it thereupon The wilde Goats of Creet eat Dittany aforesaid against the strokes of Darts and Serapion avoucheth by the experience of Galen that Goats by licking the leaves of Tamarisk lose their gall and likewise that he saw them licking Serpents which had newly lost their skins and the event thereof was that their age never turned or changed into whiteness or other external signes thereof Also it is delivered by good observation that if they eat or drink out of vessels of Tamarisk they shall never have any Spleen if any one of them eat Sea-holly the residue of the flock stand still and will not go forward till the meat be out of his mouth The Grammarians say that 〈…〉 ara was killed by Bellerophon the son of Glaucus in the Mountain Lyoius and the reason hereof is that the Poets faigned Chimera to be composed of a Lyon a Dragon and a Goat and in that Mountain all those three were kept and fell for
upon the belly of a Beaver wherein also the vulgar sort are deceived taking those bunches for stones as they do these bladders And the use of these parts both in Beavers and Hares is this that against rain both one and other sex suck thereout a certain humor and anoint their bodies all over therewith and so are defended in time of rain The belly of a Sow a Bitch and a Hare have many cels in them because they bring forth many at a time when a Hare lyeth down she bendeth her hinder legs under her loins as all rough-footed Beasts do They are deceived which deliver by authority of holy Scriptures that Hares love to lodge them upon Rocks but we have manifested elsewhere that those places are to be understood of Conies They have fore-knowledge both of winde and weather Summer and Winter by their noses for in the Winter they make their forms in the Sun-shine because they cannot abide frost and cold and in the Summer they rest toward the North remaining in some higher ground where they receive colder air We have shewed already that their sight is dim but yet herein it is true that Plutarch saith they have Visum indefessum an indefatigable sense of seeing so that the continuance in a mean degree countervaileth in them the want of excellency Their hearing is most pregnant for the Egyptians when they signifie hearing picture a Hare and for this cause we have shewed you already that their ears are long like horns their voyce is a whining voyce and therefore Authors call it Vagitum as they do a young childes according to the verse of Ovid Intus ut infanti vagiat ore Puer They rest in the day time and walk abroad to feed in the night never feeding near home either because they are delighted with forein food or else because they would exercise their legs in going or else by secret instinct of nature to conceal their forms and lodging places unknown their heart and bloud is cold which Albertus assigneth for a cause of their night-feeding they eat also Grapes and when they are overcome with heat they eat of an herb called Lactuca Leporina and of the Romans and Hetrurians Ciserbita of the Venetians Lactucinos of the French Lacterones that is Hares-lettice Hares-house Hares palace and there is no disease in this Beast the cure whereof she doth not seek for in this herb Hares are said to chew the cud in holy Scripture they never drink but content themselves with the dew and for that cause they often fall rotten It is reported by Philippus Belot that when a Hare drunk Wine she instantly dyed they render their urine backward and their milk is as thick as a Swines and of all creatures they have milk in udders before they deliver their young They are very exceedingly given to sleep because they never wink perfectly some Author's derive their name Lagon in Greek from Laein to see and thereupon the Graecians have a common proverb Lagos Catheudon a sleeping Hare for a dissembling and counterfeiting person because the H 〈…〉 seeth when she sleepeth for this is an admirable and rare work of Nature that all the residue of her bodily parts take their rest but the eye standeth continually sentinel Hares admit copulation backward and herein they are like to Conies because they breed every moneth for the most part and that many at that time the female provoking the male to carnal copulation and while they have young ones in their belly they admit copulation whereby it cometh to pass that they do not litter all at a time but many dayes asunder bringing forth one perfect and another bald without hair but all blinde like other cloven-footed-beasts It is reported that two Hares brought into the Isle Carpathus filled that Island with such abundance that in short time they destroyed all the fruits whereupon came the proverb Carpathius Leporem to signifie them which plow and sow their own miseries It falleth out by divine Providence that Hares and other fearfull Beasts which are good for meat shall multiply to greater numbers in short space because they are naked and unarmed lying open to the violence of men and beasts but the cruel and malignant creatures which live only upon the devouring of their inferiours as the Lyons Wolves Foxes and Bears conceive but very seldom because there is less use for them in the world and God in his creatures keepeth down the cruel and ravenous but advanceth the simple weak and despised when the female hath littered her young ones she first sicketh them with her tongue and afterward seeketh out the male for copulation Hares do seldom wax tame and yet they are amongst them which are neither Plaoidae nor Ferae tame nor wilde but middle betwixt both and Cardane giveth this reason of their untameable nature because they are perswaded that all men are their enemies Scaliger writeth that he saw a tame Hare in the Castle of Mount Pesal who with her hinder legs would come and strike the Dogs of her own accord as it were defying their force and provoking them to follow her Therefore for their meat they may be tamed and accustomed to the hand of man but they remain uncapable of all discipline and ignorant of their teachers voyce so as they can never be brought to be obedient to the call and command of their teacher neither will goe nor come at his pleasure It is a simple creature having no defence but to run away yet it is subtile as may appear by changing of her form and by scraping out her footsteps when she leapeth into her form that so she may deceive her Hunters also she keepeth not her young ones together in one litter but layeth them a furlong one from another that so she may not lose them all together if peradventure men or beasts light upon them Neither is she careful to feed her self alone but also to be defended against her enemies the Eagle the Hawk the Fox and the Woolf for she feareth all these naturally neither can there be any peace made betwixt her and them but she rather trusteth the scratching brambles the solitary woods the ditches and corners of rocks or hedges the bodies of hollow trees and such like places then a dissembling peace with her adversaries The wilde Hawk when she taketh a Hare she setteth one of her talons in the earth and with the other holding her prey striving and wrestling with the Beast untill she have pulled out his eyes and then killeth him The Foxes also compass the poor Hare by cunning for in the night time when he falleth into her foot-steps he restraineth his breath and holdeth in his savour going forward by little and little untill he finde the form of the Hare and then thinking to surprize her on a sudden leapeth at her to catch her but the watchful Hare doth not take sleep after a careless manner delighting rather in
fore-lock to the Mercurius there are contained eight inches the back-bone containeth three and thirty crosse ribs From the convulsion of the reins to the top of the tail are twelve commissures the length of his Sagula containeth also twelve inches from his shoulders to his legs six from his legs to his knees a foot in length from the Articles to the hoofs four inches in his whole length six feet And this is the stature of a couragious and middle Horse for I know there are both bigger and lesser The quality and the measure of the nerves or sinews is this from the middle nostrils through the head neck and back-bone is a dubble file or threed to the top of the tail which containeth twelve foot in length The two broad sinews in the neck do contain four-foot from the shoulders to the knees there are two sinews from the knee to the bottom of the foot there are four sinews in the fore-legs there are ten sinews in the hinder-legs there are other ten sinews from the reins to the stones there are four sinews so the whole number amounteth to thirty four Consequently the number of the veins is to be declared In the palat or roof of the mouth their are two veins under the eyes other two in the brest other two and in the legs other two four under the pasternes two in the ancles four in the crown of the pasternes four out of the thighes two out of the loins two out of the Gambaes one out of the rail and two in the womb or Matrix so the whole number is nine and twenty There are certain veins above the eyes which are divided in Horses wherein they are let bloud by making to them small incisions the bloud also is taken out of the veins in the palat or roof of the mouth There was an ancient custome of letting Horses bloud upon Saint Stevens day by reason of many holy dayes one succeeding another but that custom is now grown out of use Also some take bloud out of the Matrix veins but that is not to be admitted in Geldings because with their stones they lose a great part of their heat excepting extream necessity but out of the palat bloud may be let every moneth and stallions when they are kept from Mares if the vein of their mouths be opened fall into blindness although it is no good part of husbandry to let them bleed that year wherein they admit copulation for the vacuation of bloud and seed is a double charge to nature But the Organical vein of the neck is the best letting of bloud both in stoned and gelded Horses The later Leaches make incision in the great vein called Fontanella and in Inen Thymus or Jugulis The eyes of a Horses are great or glassie and it is reported by Augustus that his eyes were much more brighter then other mens resembling Horses these eyes see perfectly in the night yet their colour varieth as it doth in Men according to the caprine and glazie humour And some-times it falleth out that one and the same Horse hath two eyes of distinct colours When the eyes of a Horse hang outward he is called Exophthalmos Such fair eyes are best for Bucephalus the Horse of Alexander had such eyes but when the eyes hang inward they are called Coeloph-Thalmoi and the Parthians count them the best Horses whose eyes are of divers colours and are therefore called Heteroph Thalmoi because the breed of that Horse was said to take the beginning from the Parthians and the reason why the people loved not these Horses was because they were fearful and apt to run away in wars The ears of a Horse are tokens and notes of his stomach as a tail is to a Lion his teeth are changed yet they grow close together like a mans It is a hard thing for a Horse to have a good mouth except his stallion teeth be pulled out for when he is chafed or heated he cannot be held back by his rider but disdaineth the bridle wherefore after they be three year and a half old those teeth ought to be pulled forth In old age a Horses teeth grow whiter but in other creatures blacker A Mare hath two udders betwixt her thighes yet bringeth forth but one at a time many of the Mares have no paps at all but only they which are like their Dams In the heart of a Horse there is a little bone like as in an Oxe and a Mule he hath no gall like Mules and Asses and other whole-footed-beasts howsoever some say it lyeth in his belly and others that it cleaveth to his liver or to the gut-colon The small guts of a Horse lie near that gut that so one side of his belly may be free and full of passage and from hence it cometh that the best Horses when they run or travel hard have a noise or rumbling in their belly The Hip-bone of a Horse is called by some the haunch as the Arabians say the tail because therewith he driveth away flies is called Muscartum it ought to be long and full of hairs The legs are called Gambae of Campo signifying treading the hoofs of a Horse ought neither to be high nor very low neither ought the Horse to rest upon his anckles and those Horses which have straight bones in the Articles of their hinder knees set hard on the ground and weary the Rider but where the bones are short in the same places as they are in Dogs there the Horse also breaketh and woundeth one leg with another and therefore such Horses are called Cynopodae They have also quick flesh in their hoofs and their hoofs are sometimes called horns upon which for their better travel men have devised to fallen iron plates or shooes This hoof ought to be hard and hollow that the Beast may not be offended when he goeth upon stones they ought not to be white nor broad but almost kept moist that so they may travel the better having strong feet hard and sound hoofs for which cause the Graecians call them Eupodes Forasmuch as it is requisite for every man to provide him Horses of the best race and their kindes are divers in most places of the world so the coursers of Horses do many times beguile the simpler sort of buyers by lying and deceitful affirmation of the wrong Countreys of the best Horses which thing bringeth a confusion for there are as many kindes of Horses as Nations I will therefore declare severally the Countreys breeding the Horses for the Region and air maketh in them much alteration that so the Reader may in a short view see a muster of Horses made of all Nations The Wilderness of Acarnania and Etolia is as fit for feeding Horses as Thessaly The Horses of the Greeks Armenians and Trojans are fit for war of the Greckish I will speak more afterward Alexandria was wont to take great delight in Horses and combates of Horses Apollonius writeth
voice and riding rod for quick and good metled Horses are by the Spur made fierce and gentle natured Beasts made sluggards like Asses which by often beating seem to neglect and despise stripes You must also shorten and lengthen your journies and times of Ridings so as they may neither be certain to the Beast nor yet over long and specially after a long journey take a shorter if you Ride upon the same Horse First of all let him be used to plain and equal wayes and if he be to leap or go up a hill it was a precept of the old Grecians that then the Rider must lay the rains in his neck If the Horse at any time be either more fierce or sluggish then ordinary he may be holp by these means Wildeness and fierceness of Horses is like to anger and rage in men and therefore occasions of offence in word and deed must be avoided therefore as soon as the Rider is upon his back let him rest a little before he set forward and then also let the Horse move but his own pace for as men are offended with suddain violence and imperious gestures so also are Horses but if the Horse being stirred to his race be more forward and hot then ordinary he must be gently restrained by the bridle and it is better to qualifie their rage in long and spacious direct journies then in often windings and turnings But if any man be so simple as to think that by length of journey or race his Horse will be more meek because he may be tyred he deceiveth himself for as rage in man inventeth hurtfull revenge and turneth into malice by continuance so also in Horses it procureth a headlong ruine if it be not prevented both to Horse and Rider and therefore if your Horse be of a generous spirit never provoke him to ferocity for as they are wilde and fierce so are they wicked and harmful It is also better to use light and gentle bridles then heavy and sharp except the Rider can by his art so frame the sharp as the gentle bit and also the Rider must so frame himself in his art of riding that in the commotion of his Horse he may not touch any member or part of him but only his back whereupon he sitteth He must also learn his different terms to incite and stir up his Horse to run forward which the Grecians call Clogmos or else to restrain him and keep him in which they call Poppysmus the one closeth the lips and the other toucheth the palat If the Horse be fearful of any thing you must shew the thing to him plainly that so by custom he may learn not to be skittish and let him smell thereunto till he learn not to be afraid but if men beat them they do but fear them more for while they are so ill handled they suspect that the things whereof they are afraid are the cause of their stripes In like sort when they go on the one side or turn back again it is good to use the Spurs because they encrease their terrour and perverseness and therefore as peaceable encouragement and friendly perswasion is the best means to perswade a man in his fear the like course must be taken with a Horse that so he may go straight on without doubt or trembling and learn not to account any thing horrible to his nature When a Horse is so tyred and wearied in his journey that a man would judge him unfit for any labour take off his saddle and burthen and put him into some stable or green field where he may tumble and rowle over and over and he shall easily recover In ancient time if Horses were to be travelled through snow they made them boots of sackcloth to wear in their journey Of the disposition of Horses in general AMong the flocks or heards of Horses there is not a Captain or leader going before or governing the residue as among Oxen Sheep and Elephants because the nature of these is more instable and moveable it being a swift and high spirited Beast and therefore hath received a body furnished with such members as are apt to be swayed by such spirit for Lactantius truly observeth in them a desire of glory because after victory the conquerours exsult and rejoyce but the conquered or overcome mourn and hang down their heads which thing Virgil expresseth in this Verse Insultare solo gressus glomerare superbos But more plainly Ovid the triumph of the conquering Horse saying Hic generosus honos gloria major equorum Nam capiunt animis palmam gaudentque triumpho Seu septem spatiis circo meruere coronam Nonue vides victor quanto sublimius altum Attollat caput vulgi se venditet aura Celsave cum caeso decoratur terga leone Quam tumidus quantoque venit spectabilis actu Compescatque solum generoso concita pulsu Vngula sub spoliis graviter redeuntis opimis And Pliny affirmeth that when they are joyned together in Chariots they understand their encouragements of glory and commendation and therefore there is not any beast of so high a stomach as a Horse Of the natural disposition of Horses THey love wet places and bathes for which cause they are called Philolutra they also love musick as hath been already declared and the whole hoast of Army or the Sybarites taught their Horses to dance at the sound of a Pipe and Coelius writeth hereof in this manner So great saith he was the riot and wantonness of the Sybarites that at their common feasts they brought in Horses to dance before men which thing being known by the Crotoniatae they offered them War and agreed upon the fight whereupon in the day of battle the Crotoniats brought with them divers Pipers and Minstrils who upon a sign given to them sounded their instruments whereupon the Sybaritan Horses came running and dancing among their adversaries and so betrayed themselves and their Riders to the enemy The like story is reported by Athenaeus of the people called Cardiani for they also taught their Horses to dance upon their hinder legs and to work many strange feats with their fore-feet at the hearing of certain measures played upon Pipes The Bisaltans waged War against the Cardians and they had to their Captain a certain man called Onaris who when he was a Boy was sold to Cardia and there he served with a Barber In the time of his service he oftentimes heard that the Oracle had foretold how the Cardians should be overcome by the Bisaltans and therefore he to prevent the worst run away from his Master and came home safe to Bisalta his own Countrey and was by his Countrey-men created Captain of all their warlike forces he understanding what tricks the Cardians taught their Horses in dancing brought out of Cardia certain Pipes and taught divers Bisaltans to sound and play the measures upon them which the Cardians taught their Horses whereupon when as they joyned
excellent great and swift Horses whose hoofs are so hard that they need no iron shooes although they travel over rocks and mountains The Arabians also have such Horses and in the Kingdom of Senega they have no breed of Horses at all by reason of the heat of their Countrey which doth not only burn up all pasture but also cause Horses to fall into the Strangury for which cause they do buy Horses very dear using in stead of Hay the stalkes of Pease dryed and cut asunder and Millet seed in stead of Oats wherewithal they grow exceeding fat and the love of that people is so great to Horses that they give for a Horse furnished nine bond-slaves or if it please them well fourteen but when they have bought their Horses they send for Witches and observe therein this ceremony They make a burning fire with stickes putting therein certain fuming herbs afterwards they take the Horse by the bridle and set him over the smoaking fire anointing him with a very thin ointment muttering secretly certain charmes and afterwards hanging other charmes about their Neck in a red skin shut them up close for fifteen dayes together then did they bring them forth affirming that by this means they are made more valiant and couragious in war The love and knowledge of Horses to men ANd to this discourse of Horses belongeth their nature either of loving or killing men Of the nature of Alexanders Horse before spoken of called Bucephalus is sufficently said except this may be added that so long as he was naked and without furniture he would suffer any man to come on his back but afterwards being sadled and furnished he could endure none but Alexander his Master For if any other had offered to come near him for to ride him he first of all terrified him with his neighing voice and afterwards trod him under foot if he ran not away When Alexander was in the Indian Wars and riding upon this Horse in a certain battle performed many valiant acts and through his own improvidence fell into an ambush of his foes from which he had never been delivered alive but for the puissancy of his Horse who seeing his Master beset with so many enemies received the Darts into his own body and so with violence pressed through the middest of his enemies having lost much bloud and received many wounds ready to die for pain not once stayed his course till he had brought his Master the King safe out of the battle and set him on the ground which being performed in the same place he gave up the ghost and dyed as it were comforting himself with this service that by his own death he had saved the life of such a King for which cause after Alexander had gotten victory in that very place where his Horse died he built a City and called it Bucephalon It is also reported that when Licinius the Emperour would have had his Horses to tear in pieces his Daughter because she was a Christian he himself was by one of them bitten to death Neocles the Son of Themistocles perished by the biting of a Horse neither herein only is the nature of Horses terrible because also they have been taught to tear men in pieces for it is said that Busiris and Diomedes did feed their Horses with mans flesh and therefore Hercules took the like revenge of Diomedes for he gave him to his Horses to be eaten of Diomedes were these Verses made Vt qui terribiles pro gramen habentibus herb is Impius humano viscere pavit equos The like also is reported of Glaucus the Son of Sysiphus who fed Horses with mans flesh at Poâ—nia a City of Boeotia and afterward when he could make no more provision for them they devoured their Master whereof Virgil writeth thus Et mentem Venus ipsa dedit quo tempore Glauci Pitniades malis membra absumpsere quadrigae But this is thought a fiction to expresse them which by feeding and keeping of Horses consume their wealth and substance And thus much for the natural inclination of Horses Of several kindes of Horses THere be several kinds of Horses which require a particular tractate by themselves and first of all the Martial or great warlike Horse which for profit the Poet coupleth with Sheep Laniferae pecudes equorum bellica proles The parts of this Horse are already described in the Stallion the residue may be supplyed out of Xenophon and Oppianus He must be of a singular courage and docibility without maime fear or other such infirmity He must be able to run up and down the steepest hils to leap and bite and fight in battle but with the direction of his Rider for by these is both the strength of his body and minde discovered and above all such a one as will never refuse to labour though the day be spent wherefore the Rider must first look to the institution and first instruction of his Horse for knowledge in martial affaires is not natural in Men or Horses and therefore except information and practice adorne nature it cannot be but either by fear or heady stubborness they will overthrow themselves and their Riders First of all they must not be Geldings because they are fearful but they must be such as will rejoyce and gather stomach at the voice of musick or Trumpets and at the ringing of Armour they must not be afraid of other Horses and refuse to combate but he able to leap high and far and rush into the battle fighting as is said with heels and mouth The principal things which he must learn are these first to have a lofty and flexible neck and also to be free not needing the spur for if he be sluggish and need often agitation to and fro by the hand of the Rider or else if he be full of stomach and sullen so as he will do nothing but by flattery and fair speeches he much troubleth the minde of the Rider but if he run into the battle with the same outward aspect of body as he doth unto a flock or company of Mares with loud voice high neck willing mind and great force so shall he be both terrible to look upon and valiantly puissant in his combate Wherefore the Rider must so carry his hand as the rains may draw in the Horses neck and not so easily as in a common travelling Gelding but rather sharply to his grievance a little by which he will be taught as it were by signes and tokens to fight stand still or run away The manner of his institution may be this after the dressing and surnishing of your Horse as aforesaid and likewise the backing first of all move stir or walk your Horse gently untill he be well acquainted with the cariage of your hand and whole body and afterward accustome him to greater and speedier pace or exercise use him also to run longer races and also by drawing in your hand to stay or
nor eat their meat upon the ground except they bend down upon their knees The males in this kinde do only bear horns and such as do not grow out of the Crowns of their head but as it were out of the middle on either side a little above the eyes and so bend to the sides They are sharp and full of bunches like Harts no where smooth but in the tops of the speers and where the veins run to carry nutriment to their whole length which is covered with a hairy skin they are not so rough at the beginning or at the first prosses specially in the fore-part as they are in the second for that only is full of wrinckles from the bottom to the middle they grow straight but from thence they are a little recurved they have only three speers or prosses the two lower turn away but the uppermost groweth upright to heaven yet sometimes it falleth out as the Keepers of the said Beast affirmed that either by sickness or else through want of food the left horn hath but two branches In length they are one Koman foot and a half and one finger and a half in breadth at the root two Roman palms The top of one of the horns is distant from the top of the other three Roman feet and three fingers and the lower speer of one horn is distant from the lower of the other two Roman feet measured from the roots in substance and colour they are like to Harts horns they weighed together with the dry broken spongy bone of the fore-head five pound and a half and half an ounce I mean sixteen ounces to the pound they fall off every year in the month of April like to Harts and they are not hollow The breadth of their fore-heads betwixt the horns is two Roman palms and a half the top of the crown betwixt the horns is hollow on the hinder part and in that siecel lyeth the brain which descendeth down to the middle region of the eyes Their teeth are like Harts and inwardly in their cheeks they grow like furrows bigger then in a Horse the tooth rising out sharp above the throat as it should seem that none of his meat should fall thereinto unbruised This Beast in young age is of a Mouse or Ass colour but in his elder age it is more yellowish especially in the extream parts of his body the hair smooth but most of all on his legs but under his belly in the inner part of his knee the top of his neck breast shoulders and back-bone not so smooth In height it was about twenty two handfuls and three fingers being much swifter then any Horse the female beareth every year as the Keeper said in Norway two at a time but in England it brought forth but one The flesh of it is black and the fibres broad like an Oxes but being dressed like Harts flesh and baked in an Oven it tasted much sweeter It eateth commonly grass but in England seldom after the fashion of Horses which forbear hay when they may have bread but leaves rindes of trees bread and oats are most acceptable unto it It reacheth naturally thirty hand breadths high but if any thing be higher which it doth affect it standeth up upon the hinder-legs and with the fore-legs there imbraceth or leaneth to the tree and with his mouth biteth off his desire It drinketh water and also English Ale in great plenty yet without drunkenness and there were that gave it Wine but if it drink plentifully it became drunk It is a most pleasant creature being tamed but being wilde is very fierce and an enemy to mankinde persecuting men not only when he seeth them by the eye but also by the sagacity of his nose following by foot more certainly then any Horse for which cause they which kept them near the high ways did every year cut off their horns with a saw It setteth both upon Horse and Foot-men trampling and treading them under-foot whom he did over-match when he smelleth a man before he seeth him he uttereth a voice like the gruntling of a Swine being without his female it doth most naturally affect a woman thrusting out his genital which is like a Harts as if it discerned sexes In Norway they call it an Elk or Elend but it is plain they are deceived in so calling it because it hath not the legs of an Elk which never bend nor yet the horns as by conference may appear Much less can I believe it to be the Hippardius because the female wanteth horns and the head is like a Mules but yet it may be that it is a kinde of Elk for the horns are not always alike or rather the Elk is a kinde of Horse-hart which Aristotle calleth Arrochosius of Arracolos a region of Assya and herein I leave every man to his judgement referring the Reader unto the former discourses of an Elk and the Tragelaphus Of the SEA-HORSE THe Sea-horse called in Greek Hippotomos and in Latine Equus Fluviatilis It is a most ugly and filthy Beast so called because in his voyce and mane he resembleth a Horse but in his head an Oxe or a Calf in the residue of his body a Swine for which cause some Graecians call him some-times a Sea-horse and sometimes a Sea-oxe which thing hath moved many learned men in our time to affirm that a Sea-horse was never seen whereunto I would easily subscribe such Bellon 〈…〉 were it not that the antient figures of a Sea-horse altogether resembled that which is here expressed and was lately to be seen at Constantinople from whom this picture was taken It liveth for the most part in Nilus yet is it of a doubtful life for it brings forth and breedeth on the land and by the proportion of the legs it seemeth rather to be made for going then for swimming for in the night time it eateth both hay and fruits sorraging into corn fields and devouring whatsoever cometh in the way and therefore I thought it fit to be inserted into this story As for the Sea-calf which cometh sometimes to land only to take sleep I did not judge it to belong to this discourse because it feedeth only in the waters This picture was taken out of the Colossus in the Vatican at Rome representing the River Nilus and eating of a Crocodile and thus I reserve the farther discourse of this beast unto the History of Fishes adding only thus much that it ought to be no wonder to consider such monsters to come out of the Sea which resemble Horses in their heads seeing therein are also creatures like unto Grapes and Swords The Orsean Indians do hunt a Beast with one horn having the body of a Horse and the head of a Hart. The Aethiopians likewise have a Beast in the neck like unto a Horse and the feet and legs like unto an Ox. The Rhinocephalus hath a neck like a Horse and also the other parts of his body but it is said to breath
nymphae Aegeriae nemoâ—ique relegat Solus ubi in silvis Itolis ignobleis aevum Exigeret verscque ubi nomine Virbius esset Vnde etiam Triviae templo lucisque sacratis Cornipedes arcentur equi quod littore currum Et juvenem monstr is pavidi effudere marinis The Poets also do attribute unto the night black Horses and unto the day white Homer saith that the names of the day Horses are Lampus and Phaethon to the Moon they ascribe two Horses one black and another white the reason of these inventions for the day and the night is to signifie their speedy course or revolution by the swiftness of Horses and of the darkeness of the night by the black Horses and the light of the day by the white and the Moon which for the most part is hid and covered with earth both increasing and decreasing they had the same reason to signifie her shadowed part like a black Horse and her bright part by a white one The like Fiction they had of Hecate whom Ausonius calleth Tergemina because she is described with the head of a Horse a Dog and a wilde Man the Horse on the right hand the Dog on the left hand and the wilde Man in the middle whereby they declared how vulgar illiterate and uncivilized men do participate in their conditions the labours and envie of brute beasts We may also read in the Annales of Tacitus that in his time there was a Temple raised to Equestrial fortune that is for the honour of them which managed Horses to their own profit and the good of their Countrey and that Fulvius the Praetor in Spain because he obtained the victory against the Celtiberians by the valour and diligence of his Horse-men was the first that builded that Temple Likewise there was another Temple in Boeotia for the same cause dedicated unto Hercules The ancient Pagans call the God of Horses Hippona as the God of Oxen Bubona It is also apparent that many Nations use to sacrifice Horses for at Salentinum a Horse was cast alive into the fire and offered to Jupiter Likewise the Lacedemonians sacrificed a Horse to the winds At Rome also they sacrificed a Horse to Mars and thereof came the term of Equus October which was sacrificed every year in October in Campus Martius This Horse was often take out of a Chariot which was a Conqueror in race and stood on the right hand as soon as he was killed some one carried his tail to a place called Regia and for his head there was a continual combate betwixt the inhabitants of the streets Suburra and Sacravia which of them should possesse it for the Suburrans would have fastened it to the wal of Regia and the Sacravians to the Tower Mamillia The reason why they Sacrificed a Horse some have conjectured because the Romans were the off-spring of the Trojans and they being deceived by a Horse their posterity made that Sacrifice for punishment of Horses but it is more reasonable that because they Sacrificed a conquering Horse they did it only for the honour of Mars the God of victory or else because they would signifie that flying away in battle was to be punished by the example of Sacrificing of a swift Horse The Carmani did also worship Mars and because they had no Horses to use in War they were forced to use Asses for which cause they Sacrificed an Asse unto him There is another fable amongst the Poets that the Methimnaeans were commanded by the Oracle to cast a Virgin into the Sea to Neptune which they performed now there was a young man whose name was Ennallus which was in love with the said Virgin and seeing her in the Waters swum after her to save her but both of them were covered with the waters of the Sea yet after a certain space Ennallus returned back again and brought news that the Virgin lived among the Pharies of the Sea and that he after that he had kept Neptunes Horses by the help of a great wave escaped away by swimming for the Poets fain that Neptunes Chariot was drawn by Horses of the Sea according to these Verses of Gillius Non aliter quotiens perlabitur aequora curru Extremamque petit Phoebaea cubilia Tethyn Fraenatis Neptunus equis They also faign that the Sun is drawn with two swift white Horses from whence came that abomination that the Kings of Judea had erected Horses and Chariots in honour of the Sun which were set at the entrance of the Temple of the Lord which Horses were destoyed by Josias as we read in holy Scripture And the manner of their abomination was that when they did worship to the Sun they road upon those Horses from the entrance of the Temple to the chamber of Nethan-melech The Persians also Sacrificed a Horse to Apollo according to these Verses of Ovid Placat equâ— Persis radiis Hyperiona cinctum Ne detur sceleri victima tarda deo And for this cause the Massagetes sacrificed a Horse the swiftest of all Beasts unto the Sun the swiftest of all the Gods Philostratus also recordeth that Palamedes gave charge to the Grecians to Sacrifice to the Sun rising a white Horse The Rhodians in honor of the Sun did cast yearly away into the Sea the Chariots dedicated to the Sun in imagination that the Sun was carryed about the World in a Chariot drawn by six Horses As the Army of the Persians did proceed forward on their journey the fire which they did call Holy and Eternal was lifted up on silver Altars presently after this there followed the Wise-men and after those Wise-men came 165 young men being cloathed with as many red little garments as there are dayes in the year Instantly upon the same came the holy Chariots of Jupiter which was drawn by white Horses after which with a resplendent magnitude the Horse of the Sun was seen to appear for so it was called and this was the manner of their Sacrifices The King of Indians also as is said when the dayes began to wax long he descended down to the River Indus and thereunto sacrificed black Horses and Buls for the Buls in ancient time were consecrated to the Rivers and Horses also were thrown thereinto alive as the Trojans did into Xanthus The Veneti which worshiped Diomedes with singular honour did Sacrifice to him a white Horse when the Thebanes made war on the Lacedemonians it is said that Caedasus apeared in a vision to Pelopidas one of the Thebane Captains and told him that now the Lacedemonians were at Leuctra and would take vengeance upon the Thebanes and their Daughters Whereupon Pelopidas to avert that mischief caused a young foal to be gallantly attired and the day before they joyned battle to be led to a Sepulcher of their Virgins and there to be killed and sacrificed The Thessalians observed this custome at their marriages and nuptial Sacrifices the man took a Horse of War
Troy Sinon the counterfeit runnagate being then within the wals among the Trojans perswaded them to pull down their wals and pull in that wooden Horse affirming that if they could get it Pallas would stand so friendly to them that the Grecians should never be able to move war against them wherefore they pull down their gates and part of their wall and by that means do bring the Horse into the City while the Trojans were thus revelling and making merry with themselves and not thinking of any harm might ensue upon them the leaders of the Grecian Army who by deceit all this while kept themselves close hid ever since which time the Grecians are tearmed of all Nations deceitful on a suddain rose out of their lurking places and so going forward invaded the City being destitute of any defence and by this means subdued it Others are of opinion that the Poets fiction of the Trojan Horse was no other but this that there was a mountain neer Troy called Equus and by advantage thereof Troy was taken whereunto Virgil seemeth to allude saying Instar montis Equum divina Palladis arte Aedificant For they say that Pallas and Epeus made the Horse and therefore I conjecture that the Trojan Horse was nothing else but an engine of War like unto that which is called Aries For Pausanias saith that Epeus was the inventer thereof And Higinus saith that the Trojan Horse was Machina oppugnatoria a devise of war to overthrow the wals Of this Horse there was a brazen image at Athens in Acropolis with this inscription Chaeridemus Fuangeli filius caelen 〈…〉 dicavit When Alexander looked upon his own picture at Ephesus which Apelles had drawn with all his skill the King did not commend it according to the worth thereof It fortuned that a Horse was brought into the room who presently neighed at the picture of Alexanders Horse smelling unto it as to a living Morse whereat Apelles spake thus to the King Ho men Hippos â—oice sou graphicoteros cata polu That is to say The Horse is a better discerner of truth then you There was one Phormis which went from Maeâ—alus in Arcadia into Sioilla to serve Gelon the Son of Dinomenes under whom and his brother Hierâ— he arose to great estate of wealth and therefore he gave many gifts to Apollo at Delphos and made two brazen Horses with their riders at Olympia setting Dionisius the Grecian upon one and Simon Egineta upon the other Aemilius Censorinus a cruel Tyrant in Sicilia bestowed great gifts upon such as could invent new kinde of torments there was one Aâ—untius Paterculus hoping to receive from him some great reward made a brazen Horse and presented it to the Tyrant to include therein such as he should condemn to death at the receipt whereof Aemilius which was never just before first of all put the Author into it that he might take experience how cursed a thing it was to minister unto cruelty Apelles also painted Clytus on Horse-back hastening to war and his Armour-bearer reaching his helmet unto him so lively that other dumb beasts were affraid of his Horse And excellent was the skill of Nealces who had so pictured a Horse foaming that the beholders were wont to take their handkerchefs to wipe it from his mouth And this much for the moral uses of Horses Of the several diseases of Horses and their cures SEeing in this discourse I have principally aimed at the pleasure delight and profit of Englishmen I have thought good to discourse of the diseases of Horses and their cures in the words of our own Countreymen M. Blundevile and M. Markham whose works of these matters are to be recorded like the Iliads of Homer in many places and several Monuments to the intent that envy of Barbarism may never be able to bury them in oblivion or neglect to root them out of the world without the losse of other memorable labours Wherefore good Reader for the ensuing Tructure of diseases and cures compiled by them after that I had read over the labours of C. Gisner and compared it with them finding nothing of substance in him which is not more materially perspicuously profitably and familiarly either extracted or expressed by them in a method most fitting this History I have thought good to follow them in the description of the disease and the remedy first according to time declaring them in the words of M. Blund and afterwards in the words of M Markham methodically one after the other in the same place wherewithal I trust the living authors will not be displeased that so you may with one labour examine both and I hope that neither they nor any of their friends or Scholars shall receive any just cause of offence by adding this part of their studies to our labours neither their books imprinted be any way disgraced or hindered but rather revived renobled and honoured To begin therefore saith Master Blundevile after the discourse of the nature of a Horse followeth those things which are against nature the knowledge whereof is as needfully profitable as the other Things against nature be those whereby the healthful estate of a Horses body is decayed which are in number three that is the causes the sickness and the accidents of the two first in order and the other promiscuously as need requireth Of causes and kinds thereof THe causes of sickness be unnatural affects or evill dispositions preceding sickness and provoking the same which of themselves do not hinder the actions of the body but by means of sickness coming betwixt Of causes some be called internal and some external Internal be those that breed within the body of the Beast as evil juice External be those that chance outwardly to the body as heat cold or the stinging of a Serpent and such like In knowing the cause of every disease consisteth the chief skill of the Farriar For unlesse he knoweth the cause of the disease it is impossible for him to cure it well and skilfully And therefore I wish all Farriars to be diligent in seeking to know the causes of all diseases as well in the parts similar as instrumental and to know whether such causes be simple or compound for as they be simple or compound so do they engender simple or compound diseases Of sickness what it is and how many general kinds there be also with what order the diseases of Horses are herein declared And finally of the four times belonging to every sickness SIckness is an evill affect contrary to nature hindering of it self some action of the body Of sickness there be three general kinds where of the first consisteth in the parts similar the second in the parts instrumental and the third in both parts together The first kind is called of the Latins Intemperies that is to say evil temperature which is either simple or compound It is simple when one quality only doth abound or exceed too much as to be too hot or too
cold it is compound as when many qualities do exceed as when the body is too hot and too dry or too cold and too moist The second kind is called Mala constitutiâ— that is to say an evill state or composition which is to be considered either by the shape number quantity or sight of the member or part evill affected or diseased The third kind is called Vnitatis solutio that is to say the loosening or division of the unity which as it may chance diversly so it hath divers names accordingly for if such solution or division be in a bone then it is called a fracture if it be in any fleshie part then it is called a Wound or Ulcer in the veins a Rupture in the sinews a Convulsion or Cramp and in the skin an Excoriation Again of diseases some be called long and some sharp and short called of the Latins M 〈…〉 which be perillous and do quickly kill the body The long do 〈…〉 rry longer by it Yet moreover there is sickness by it self and sickness by consent Sickness by it self is that which being in some member hindereth the action thereof by it self Sickness by consent is derived out of one member into another through the neighbourhood and community that is betwixt them as the pain of the head which cometh from the stomach Thus the learned Physitians which write of Mars body do divide sickness But Absyrtus writing of Horse-leach craft saith of that sickness or rather malady for so he termeth it using that word as a general name to all manner of diseases that be in a Horse there be four kinds that is to say the moist malady the dry malady the malady of the joynts and the malady betwixt the flesh and the skin The moist malady is that which we call the Glanders The dry malady is an incurable consumption which some perhaps would call the mourning of the chein but not rightly as shall appear unto you hereafter The malady of the joints comprehendeth all griefs and sorentes that be in the joints And the malady betwixt the flesh and the skin is that which we call the 〈◊〉 U 〈…〉 which four kindes of maladies Vegetius addeth three others that is the Forcine the 〈◊〉 of the Reins or Kidnies and the con 〈…〉 ered Marginess most commonly called of the old writers the 〈…〉 sic and so maketh seven kindes of maladies under which all other perticular diseases are comprehended Again Laurentius Rusius useth an other kind of division of sickness Of Horses diseases saith he some be natural and some accidental The natural be those that do come either through the excesse or lack of engendring seed or by error of nature in misforming the young or else by some defect of the dam or sire in that perhaps they be diseased within and have their seed corrupted The accidental diseases be those that come by chance as by surfetting of cold heat and such like thing But forasmuch as none of these writers do follow their own divisions nor handle the parts thereof accordingly to avoid their confusion and to teach plainly I thought good and profitable therefore to use this my own division and order here following First then of diseases some be inward and some be outward The inward be those that breed within the Horses body and are properly called maladies and diseases whereof some do occupy all the whole body and some particular parts or members of the body Of those then that occupie all the body and not be accident to any private member I do first treat as of Agues of the Pestilence and such like and then of those that be incident to every particular member beginning at the head and so proceed orderly throughout all the members even down to the sole of the foot observing therein so nigh as I can the self same order that Galen useth in his book De locis male affectis declaring what manner of disease it is and how it is called in English and also in Italian because the Kings stable is never without Italian Riders of whom our Farriars borrowed divers names as you shall perceive hereafter Then the causes whereof it proceeds and the signes how to know it and finally the cure and diet belonging to the same and because I find not inward diseases enow to answer every part of the body I do not let to interlace them with outward diseases incident to those parts yea rather I leave out no outward disease belonging to any particular member and to the intent you may the better know to what diseases or sorances every part or member of the Horses body is most commonly subject And note by the way that I call those outward diseases that proceed not of any inward cause but of some outward cause as when a Horse is shouldered by means of some outward cause or his back galled with the saddle or his sides spurgalled or his his hoof cloid with a nail which properly may be called sorances or griefs Thirdly I talk of those diseases as well outward as inward that may indifferently chance in any part of the body as of Impostumes Cankerous Ulcers Wounds Fistulaes Burnings Bâ—usings Breaking of bones and such like Fourthly because most diseases are healed either by letting of bloud by taking up of veins by purgation or else by cauterisation that is to say by giving the fire I talk of those four necessary things severally by themselves and finally I shew you the true order of paring and shooing all manner of hoofs according as the diversity of hoofs require and to the intent you may the better understand me you have the perfect shapes of all necessary shooes plainly set forth in figures before your eyes Thus much touching mine order which I have hitherto observed Now it is necessary to know that to every disease or malady belongeth four several times that is to say the beginning the increasing the state and declination which times are diligently to be observed of the Farriar because they require divers applying of medicine for that medicine which was meet to be used in the beginning of the disease perhaps is not to be used in the declination thereof and that which is requisite and very needful to be applyed in the state or chiefest of the disease may be very dangerous to be used in the beginning And therefore the Farriar ought to be a man of judgement and able to discern one time from another to the intent he may apply his medicines rightly Hither of causes and sickness in general Now it is also meet that we speak in general of signes whereby sickness is known Of the signes of sickness in general SIckness according to the learned Physitians is known four manner of wayes First by inseparable or substantial accidents as by the shape number quality and sight of the part or member diseased For if it be otherwise formed or more or lesse in number or quantity or else otherwise placed then it ought to
another but betwixt every squirting give him liberty to hold down his head and to blow out the filthy matter for otherwise perhaps you may choke him And after this it shall be good also without holding up his head any more to wash and rub his nostrils with a fine clowt bound to a white sticks end and wet in the water aforesaid and serve him thus once a day untill he be whole Of bleeding at the Nose I Have seen Horses my self that have bled at the nose which have had neither sore nor ulcer in their nose and therefore I cannot choose but say with the Physitians that it cometh by means that the vein which endeth in that place is either opened broken or fettered It is opened many times by means that bloud aboundeth too much or for that it is too fine or too subtil and so pierceth through the vein Again it may be broken by some violent strain cut or blow And finally it may be fretted or gnawn through by the sharpness of some bloud or else of some other humor contained therein As touching the cure Martin saith it is good to take a pinte of red Wine and to put therein a quartern of Bole Armony beaten into fine powder and being made luke-warm to pour the one half thereof the first day into his nostril that bleedeth causing his head to be holden up so as the liquor may not fall out and the next day to give him the other half But if this prevaileth not then I for my part would cause him to be let bloud in the breast vein on the same side that he bleedeth at several times then take of Frankincense one ounce of Aloes half an ounce and beat them into powder and mingle them throughly with the whites of Egges untill it be so thick as Honey and with soâ—t Hares hair thrust it up into his nostril filling the hole so full as it cannot fall out or else fill his nostrils full of Asses dung or Hogs dung for either of them is excellent good to restrain any flux of bloud Of the bleeding at the Nose or to stanch Flux of bloud in any sort I Have known many Horses in great danger by bleeding and I have tryed divers remedies for the same yet have I not found any more certain then this take a spoonful or two of his bloud and put it in a Sawcer and set it upon a chafing dish of coals and let it boyl till it be all dryed up into powder then take that powder and if he bleed at the nose with a Cane or Quill blow the same up into his nostrils if his bleeding come of any wound or other accident then into the wound put the same powder which is a present remedy New Horse-dung or earth is a present remedy applyed to the bleeding place and so are Sage leaves bruised and put into the wound Of the diseases in the Mouth and first of the bloudy Rifts or Chops in the Palat of the Mouth THis disease is called of the Italians Palatina which as Laurentius Russius saith cometh by eating hay or provender that is full of pricking seeds which by continual pricking and fretting the furrows of the mouth do cause them to ranckle and to bleed corrupt and stinking matter which you shall quickly remedy as Martin saith by washing first the sore places with Vinegar and Salt and then by anointing the same with Honey Of the Bladders in a Horses mouth which our old Farriers were wont to call the Gigs The Italians call them Froncelle THese be little soft swellings or rather pustules with black heads growing in the inside of his lips next unto the great jaw-teeth which are so painful unto the Horse as they make him to let his meat fall out of his mouth or at the least to keep it in his mouth unchawed whereby the Horse prospereth not Russius saith that they come either by eating too much cold grass or else pricking dusty and filthy provender The cure whereof according to Martin is in this sort Slit them with a lancet and thrust out all the corruption and then wash the sore places with a little Vinegar and Salt or else with Allum water Of the Bladders in a Horses mouth SOme Horses will have bladders like paps growing in the inside of their lips next to their great teeth which are much painful the cure whereof is thus Take a sharp pair of shears and clip them away close to the gum and then wash the sore place with running water Allum and Honey boiled together till it be whole Of the Lampass THe Lampass called of the Italians Lampasous proceedeth of the abundance of bloud resorting to the first furrow of the mouth I mean that which is next unto the upper fore-teeth causing the said furrow to swell so high as the Horses teeth so as he cannot chew his meat but is forced to let it fall out of his mouth The remdy is to cut all the superfluous flesh away with a crooked hot iron made of purpose which every Smith can do Another of the Lampass THe Lampass is a thick spongy flesh growing over a Horses upper teeth hindering the conjunction of his chaps in such sort that he can hardly eat the cure is as follloweth Cut all that naughty flesh away with a hot iron and then rub the sore well with Salt which the most ignorant Smith can do sufficiently Of the Canker in the mouth THis disease as Martin saith is a rawness of the mouth and tongue which is full of blisters so as be cannot eat his meat Which proceeds of some unnatural heat coming from the stomach For the cure whereof take of Allum half a pound of Honey a quarter of a pinte of Columbinâ— leaves of Sage leaves of each a handful boyl all these together in three pintes of water untill a pinte be consumed and wash the sore places therewith so as it may bleed continuing so to do every day once untill it be whole Another of the Canker in the mouth THis disease proceedeth of divers causes as of unnatural heat of the stomach of foul feeding or of the rust or venome of some â—it oâ— snaâ—â—el undiscr 〈…〉 lookt unto The cure is thus Wash the sore place with warm Vinegar made thick with the powder of Allum two or three dayes together every time until it bleed which will kill the poison and vigor of the exulcerated matter then make this water Take of running water a quart of Allum four ounces of Hony four or five spoonfuls of Woodhine leaves of Sage leaves and of Columbine leaves of each half a handful boil all these together till one half he consumed then take it off and every day with the water warmed wash the sore until it be whole Of the heat in the mouth and lips SOmetime the heat that cometh out of the stomach breedeth no Canker but maketh the mouth hot and causeth the Horse to forsake
most good so that he go in a dry warm ground for by feeding alwayes downward he shall purge his head the better as Russius saith Thus much of the Glanders and mourning of the Chine Now we will speak somewhat of the Strangullion according to the opinion of the Authors though not to the satisfaction perhaps of our English Farriars Of the Strangullion or Squinancy THe Strangullion called of the Latines Anginae according to the Physitians is an inflamation of the inward parts of the throat and as I said before is called of the Greeks Cynanche which is as much to say in English as Strangling whereof this name Strangullion as I think is derived for this disease doth strangle every Man or Beast and therefore is numbred amongst the perillous and sharp diseases called of the Latines Morbi acuti of which strangling the Physiâ—ians in Mans body make four differences The first and worst is when no part within the mouth nor without appeareth manifestly to be inflamed and yet the patient is in great peril of strangling The second is when the inward parts of the throat only be inflamed The third is when the inward and outward parts of the throat be both inflamed The fourth is when the muscles of the neck are inflamed or the inward joynts thereof so loosened as they straiten thereby both the throat or wesand or wind-pipe for short breath is incident to all the four kinds before recited and they proceed all of one cause that is to say of some cholerick or bloudy fluxion which comes out of the branches of the throat veins into those parts and there breedeth some hot inflamation But now to prove that a Horse is subject to this disease you shall hear what Absyrtus Hierocles Vegetius and others do say Absyrtus writing to his friend a certain Farriar or Horse-leach called Aâ—storicus speaketh in this manner When a Horse hath the Strangullion it quickly killeth him the signes whereof be these His temples will be hollow his tongue will swell and hang out of his mouth his eyes also will be swollen and the passage of his throat stopt so as he can neither eat nor drink All these signes be also confirmed by Hiâ—rocles Moreover Vegetius rendereth the cause of this disease affirming that it proceedeth of aboundance of subtle bloud which after long travel will inflame the inward or outward muscles of the throat or wesand or such affluence of bloud may come by use of hot meate after great travel being so alterative as they cause those parts to swell in such sort as the Horse can neither eat nor drink nor draw his breath The cure according to Vegeâ—ius is in this sort First bathe his mouth and tongue in hot water and then anoint it with the gall of a Bull that done give him this drink Take of old Oyl two pound of old Wine a quart nine Figs and nine Leeks heads well stamped and brayed together And after you have boiled these a while before you strain them put thereunto a little Nitrum Alexandrinum and give him a quart of this every morning and evening Absyrtus and Hierocles would have you to let him bloud in the palace of his mouth and also to powre Wine and Oyl into his Nostrils and also give him to drink this decoction of Figs and Nitrum sodden together or else to anoint his throat within with Nitre Oil and Hony or else with Hony and Hogs dung mingled together which differeth not much from Galên his medicine to be given unto man For he saith that Hony mingled with the powder of Hogs dung that is white and swallowed down doth remedy the Squinancy presently Absyrtus also praiseth the ointment made of Bdellium and when the inflamation beginneth somewhat to decrease he saith it is good to purge the Horse by giving him wilde Cucumber and Nitre to drink Let his meat be grasse if it may be gotten or else wet hay and sprinkled with Nitre Let his drink also be lukewarm water with some Barley meal in it Of the Cough OF Coughs some be outward and some be inward Those be outward which do come of outward causes as by eating a feather or by eating dusty or sharp straw and such like things which tickling his throat causeth him to cough you shall perceive it by wagging and wrying his head in his coughing and by stamping sometime with his foot labouring to get out the thing that grieveth him and cannot The cure according to Martin is thus Take a Willow wand rolled throughout with a fine linnen clout and then anoint it all over with Hony and thrust it down his throat drawing your hand to and fro to the intent it may either drive down the thing that grieveth him or else bring it up and do this twice or thrice anointing every time the stick with fresh Hony Of the inward and wet Cough OF inward Coughs some be wet and some be dry The wet Cough is that cometh of cold taken after some great heat given to the Horse dissolving humors which being afterward congealed do cause obstruction and stopping in the Lungs And I call it the wet Cough because the Horse in his coughing will void moist matter at his mouth after that it is once broken The signes be these The Horse will be heavie and his eyes will run with water and he will forsake his meat and when he cougheth he thrusteth out his head and reacheth with great pain at the first as though he had a dry Cough untill the fleam be broken and then he will cough more hollow which is a signe of amendment And therefore according to Martins experience to the intent the fleam may break the sooner it shall be necessary to keep him warm by clothing him with a double cloth and by littering him up to the belly with fresh straw and then to give him this drink Take of Barley one peck and boyl it in two or three gallons of fair water untill the Barley begin to burst and boyl therewith of bruised Licoras of Anise seeds or Raisins of each one pound then strain it and to that liquor put of Hony a pinte and a quartern of Sugarcandy and keep it close in a pot to serve the Horse therewith four several mornings and cast not away the sodden Barley with the rest of the strainings but make it hot every day to perfume the Horse withal being put in a bag and â—ied to his head and if the Horse will eat of it it shall do him the more good And this perfuming in Winter season would be used about ten of the clock in the morning when the Sun is of some height to the intent the Horse may be walked abroad if the Sun shine to exercise him moderately And untill his Cough wear away fail not to give him warm water with a little ground Mault And as his Cough breaketh more and more so let his 〈◊〉 every day be lesse warmed then other Of the dry Cough THis seemeth
it be a melancholy humor and abounding over-much it waxeth every day thicker and thicker causing obstruction not only in the veins arteries which is to be perceived by heaviness and grief on the left side but also in the Spleen it self whereas by vertue of the heat it is hardned every day more and more and so by little and little waxeth to a hard knob which doth not only occupy all the substance of the Spleen but also many times all the left side of the womb and thereby maketh the evill accidents or griefs before recited much more than they were Now as touching the inflamation of the Spleen which chanceth very seldom for so much as every inflamation proceedeth of pure bloud which seldom entereth into the Spleen I shall not need to make many words but refer you over to the Chapter of the Liver for in such case they differ not but proceeding of like cause have also like signes and do require like cure The old Writers say that Horses be often grieved with grief in the Spleen and specially in Summer season with greedy eating of sweet green meats aâ—d they call those Horses Lâ—enoâ—os that is to say Spleenetick The signes whereof say they are these hard swelling on the left side short breath often groning and greedy appetite to meat The remedy whereof according to Absyrtus is to make a Horse to sweat once a day during a certain time by riding him or otherwise travelling him and to pour into his left nostril every day the juyce of Mirabolans mingled with Wine and Water amounting in all to the quantity of a pinte But me thinks it would do him more good if he drank it as Hierocles would have him to do Eumelius praiseth this drink Take of Cummin seed and of Honey of each six ounces and of Laserpitium as much as a Bean of Vinegar a pinte and put all these into three quarts of water and let it stand so all night and the next morning give the Horse thereof to drink being kept over night fasting Theomnestus praiseth the decoction of Capers especially if the bark of the root thereof may be gotten sodden in water to a syrup Or else make him a drink of Garlick Nitrum Hore-hound and Wormwood sodden in harsh Wine and he would have the left side to be bathed in warm water and to be hard rubbed And if all this will not help then to give him the fire which Absyrtus doth not allow saying the Spleen lyeth so as it cannot easily be fired to do him any good But for so much as the Liver and Spleen are members much occupied in the ingendring and separating of humors many evill accidents and griefs do take their first beginning of them as the Jaundise called in a Horse the yellows driness of body and Consumption of the flesh without any apparent cause why which the Physitians call Atrophia also evill habit of the body called of them Cachexid and the Dropsie But first we will speak of the Jaundise or Yellows Of the Yellows THe Physitians in a mans body do make two kindes of Jaundise that is to say the Yellow proceeding of choler dispersed throughout the whole body and dying the skin yellow and the Black proceeding of melancholy dispersed likewise throughout the whole body and making all the skin black And as the yellow Jaundise cometh for the most part either by obstruction or stopping of the conduits belonging to the bladder of the gall which as I said before is the receptacle of choler or by some inflamation of the Liver whereby the bloud is converted into choler and so spreadeth throughout the body even so the black Jaundise cometh by mean of some obstruction in the Liver-vein that goeth to the Spleen not suffering the Spleen to do his office in receiving the dregs of the â—loud from the Liver wherein they abound too much or else for that the Spleen is already too full of dregs and so sheddeth them back again into the veins But as for the Black Jaundise they have not been observed to be in Horses as in Men by any of our â—arriers in these days that I can learn And yet the old Writers of Horse-leech-craft do seem to make two kindes of Jaundise called of them Cholera that is to say the dry choler and also the moist choler The signes of the dry choler as absyrtus saith is great heat in the body and costiyeness of the belly whereof it is said to be dry Moreover the Horse will not covet to ly down because he is so pained in his body and his mouth will be hot and dry It cometh as he saith by obstruction of the conduit whereby the choler should resort into the bladder of the gall and by obstruction also of the urine vessels so as he cannot stale The cure according to his experience is to give him a Glyster made of Oyl Water and Nitrum and to give him no provender before that you have raked his fundament and to pour the decoction of Mallows mingled with sweet Wine into his nostrils and let his meat be grass or else sweet Hay sprinkled with Nitre and Water and he must rest from labour and be often rubbed Hierocles would have him to drink the decoction of wilde Coleworts sodden in Wine Again of the moist choler of Jaundise these are the signes The Horses eyes will look yellow and his nostrils will open wide his ears and his flancks will sweat and his stale will be yellow and cholerick and he will grone when he lyeth down which disease the said Absyrtus was wont to heal as he saith by giving the Horse a drink made of Thyme and Cumin of each like quantity stampt together and mingled with Wine Honey and Water and also by letting him bloud in the pasterns This last disease seemeth to differ nothing at all from that which our Farriers call the Yellows The signes whereof according to Martin be these The Horse will be faint and sweat as he standeth in the stable and forsake his meat and his eyes and the inside of his lips and all his mouth within will be yellow The cure whereof according to him is in this sort Let him bloud in the neck-vein a good quantity and then give him this drink Take of white Wine of Ale a quart and put thereunto of Saffron Turmerick of each half an ounce and the juyce that is wrung out of a handful of Celandine and being luke-warm give it the Horse to drink and keep him warm the space of three or four days giving him warm water with a little Bran in it Of the Yellows THe Yellows is a general disease in Horses and differ nothing from the yellow Jaundise in men It is mortal and many Horses die thereof the signes to know it is thus pull down the lids of the Horses eyes and the white of the eye will be yellow the inside of his lips will be yellow and gums the cure followeth First let him bloud
in the palat of his mouth that he may suck up the same then give him this drink Take of strong Ale a quart of the green or dure of Geese strained three or four spoonfuls of the juyce of Celandine as much of Saffron half an ounce mix these together and being warm give it the Horse to drink Of the evill habit of the Body and of the Dropsie AS touching the driness and Consumption of the flesh without any apparent cause why called of the Physitians as I said before Atrophia I know not what to say more then I have already before in the Chapter of Consumption of the flesh and therefore resort thither And as for the evill habit of the body which is to be evill coloured heavy dull and of no force strength nor liveliness cometh not for lack of nutriment but for lack of good nutriment for that the bloud is corrupted with flegm choler or melancholy proceeding either from the Spleen or else through weakness of the stomach or liver causing evill digestion or it may come by foul feeding yea and also for lack of moderate exercise The Evill habit of the body is next cousen to the Dropsie whereof though our Farriers have had no experience yet because mine old Authors writing of Horse-leech-craft do speak much thereof I think it good here briefly to shew you their experience therein that is to say how to know it and also how to cure it But sith none of them do shew the cause whereof it proceeds I think it meet first therefore to declare unto you the causes thereof according to the doctrine of the learned Physitians which in mans body do make three kindes of Dropsies calling the first Anasarca the second Ascites and the third Timpanias Anasarca is an universal swelling of the body through the abundance of the water sying betwixt the skin and the flesh and differeth not from the disease last mentioned called Cachexia that is to say Evill habit of the bloud saving that the body is more swoln in this then in Cachexia albeit they proceed both of like causes as of coldness and weakness of the liver or by means that the heart spleen stomach and other members serving to digestion be grieved or diseased Ascites is a swelling in the covering of the belly called of the Physitians Abdomen comprehending both the skin the fat eight muscles and the film or panicle called Peritoneum through the abundance of some whayish humor entred into the same which besides the causes before alleadged proceedeth most chiefly by means that some of the vessels within be broken or rather cracked out of the which though the bloud being somewhat gross cannot issue forth yet the whayish humor being subtil may run out into the belly like water distilling through a cracked pot Timpanias called of us commonly the Timpany is a swelling of the aforesaid covering of the belly through the abundance of winde entred into the same which winde is inge 〈…〉 ered of crudity and evill digestion and whilest it aboundeth in the stomach or other intrails finding no issue out it breaketh in violently through the small conduits among the panicles of the aforesaid covering not without great pain to the patient and so by tossing to and fro windeth at length into the space of the covering it self But surely such winde cannot be altogether void of moisture Notwithstanding the body swelleth not so much with this kinde of Dropsie as with the other kinde called Ascites The signes of the Dropsie is shortness of breath swelling of the body evill colour lothing of meat and great desire to drink especially in the Dropsie called Ascites in which also the belly will sound like a bottle half full of water but in the Timpany it will sound like a Taber But now though mine Authors make not so many kindes of Dropsies yet they say all generally that a Horse is much subject to the Dropsie The signes according to Absyrtus and Hierocles be these His belly legs and stones will be swoln but his back buttocks and flancks will be dryed and shrunk up to the very bones Moreover the veins of his face and temples and also the veins under his tongue will be so hidden as you cannot see them and if you thrust your finger hard against his body you shall leave the print thereof behinde for the flesh lacking natural heat will not return again to his place and when the Horse lyeth down he spreadeth himself abroad not being able to lie round together on his belly and the hair of his back by rubbing will fall away Pelagonius in shewing the signes of the Dropsie not much differing from the Physitians first recited seemeth to make two kindes thereof calling the one the Timpany which for difference sake may be called in English the Winde Dropsie and the other the Water Dropsie Notwithstanding both have one cure so far as I can perceive which is in this sort Let him be warm covered and walked a good while together in the Sun to provoke sweat and let all his body be well and often rubbed alongst the hair and let him feed upon Coleworts Smallage and Elming boughs and on all other things that may loosen the belly or provoke urine and let his common meat be grass if it may be gotten if not then Hay sprinkled with Water and Nitrum It is good also to give him a kinde of Pulse called Cich steeped a day and a night in water and then taken out and laid so as the water may drop away from it Pelagonius would have him to drink Parsly stampt with Wine or the root of the herb called in Latine Panax with Wine But if the swelling of the belly will not decrease for all this then slit a little hole under his belly a handful behinde the navil and put into that hole a hollow reed or some other pipe that the water or winde may go out not all at once but by little and little at divers times and beware that you make not the hole over wide lest the kall of the belly fall down thereunto and when all the water is clean run out then heal up the wound as you do all other wounds and let the Horse drink as little as is possible Of the Evil habit of the Stomach IF your Horse either by inward sickness or by present surfeit grow to a loath of his meat or by weakness of his stomach cast up his meat and drink this shall be the cure for the same First in all the drink he drinks let him have the powder of hot Spices as namely of Ginger Anise seeds Licoras Cinamon and Pepper then blow up into his nostrils the powder of Tobacco to occasion him to neese instantly after he hath eaten any meat for an hour together after let one stand by him and hold at his nose a piece of sowre leaven steept in Vinegar then anoint all his breast over with the Oyl of Ginnuper and Pepper mixt
and made liquid or else a quick flie or a grain of Frankincense or a clove of Garlick clean pilled and somewhat bruised and also to pour on his back Oyl Wine Nitre made warm and mingled together But Martins experience is in this sort First wash the yard with warm white Wine and then anoint it with Oyl of Roses and Honey mingled together and put it up into the sheath and make him a Cod-piece of Canvas to keep it still up and dress it thus every day once until it be whole And in any case let his back be kept warm either with a double cloth or else with a charge made of Bole Armony Egges Wheat-flowre Sanguis Draconis Turpentine and Vinegar or else lay on a wet sack which being covered with another dry cloth will keep his back very warm Of the swelling of the Cod and Stones Aâ—syrtus saith that the inflamation and swelling of the cod and stones cometh by means of some wound or by the stinging of some Serpent or by fighting one Horse with another For rememedy whereof he was wont to hathe the cod with water wherein hath been sodden the roots of wilde Cowcumber and Salt and then to anoint it with an Ointment 〈…〉 de of Gerusa Oyl Goats grease and the white of an Egge Some again would have the cod to be bathed in warm Water Nitrum and Vinegar together and also to be anointed with an Ointment made of Chalk or of Potters earth Oxe dung Cumin Water and Vinegar or else to be anointed with the juyce of the herb Solanâ—m called of some Night-shade or with the juyce of Hemlock growing on dunghils yea and also to be let bloud in the flanks But Martin saith that the swelling of the cods cometh for the most part after some sickness or surfeting with cold and then it is a signe of amendment The cure according to his experience is in this sort First let him bloud on both sides the flank veins Then take of Oyl of Roses of Vinegar of each half a pinte and half a quartern of Bole Armony beaten to powder Mingle them together in a cruse and being luke-warm anoint the cods therewith with two or three feathers bound together and the next day ride him into the water so as his cods may be within the water giving him two or three turns therein and so return fair and softly to the stable and when he is dry anoint him again as before continuing thus to do every day once until they be whole The said Martin saith also the cods may be swollen by means of some hurt or evill humors resorting into the cod and then he would have you cover the cods with a charge made of Bole Armony and Vinegar wrought together renewing it every day once untill the swelling go away or that it break of it self and if it break then tent it with Mel Rosatum and make him a breech of Canvas to keep it in renewing the tent every day once untill it be whole Of incording and 〈…〉 g. THis term Incording is borrowed of the 〈…〉 say as Bursten and might 〈…〉 his â—uts falleth down into the 〈…〉 The Italians as I take it did call it 〈◊〉 because the â—ut follows the string of the stone called of them 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 whereof 〈◊〉 ‑ 〈◊〉 seems to be derived with some reason According to which reason we should call it rather Instringed then Incorded for Corde doth signifie a string or Word Notwithstanding sith that Incording is already received in the stable I for my part am very well content therewith minding not to contend against it But now you have to â—oâ—e that either Man or Beast may be Bursten diversty and according to the names of the pants grieved the Physitians do give it diâ—ers names for you shall understand that next unto the thick outward skin of the belly there is also another inward thin skin covering all the muscles the Caul and the guts of the belly called of the Anatomists Peritoneum which skin cometh from both parts and sides of the back and is fastened to the Midriffe above and also to the bottom of the belly beneath to keep in all the contents of the neather belly And therefore if the skin be broken or over sore strained or stretched then either some part of the caul or guts slippeth down sometime into the cod sometime not so far Iâ— the guts slip down into the cod then it is called of the Physitians by the Greek name 〈◊〉 that is to say Gut-bursten But if the caul falldown into the cod then it is called of the Physitians 〈…〉 le that is to say Caul-bursten But either of the diseases is most properly incident to the male kinde for the female kinde hath no cod Notwithstanding they may be so bursten as either gut or cauâ— may fall down into their natures hanging there like a bag but if it fell not down so â—low but remaineth above nigh unto the privy members or flanks which place is called of the Latins Inguen then of that place the Bursting is called of the Physitians B 〈…〉 câ—le whereunto I know not what English name to give unlesse I should call it flank bursten Moreover the cod or flank may be sometimes swollen by means of some waterish humour gathered together in the same which is called of the Physitians Hydrocele that is to say Water-bursten and sometimes the cod may be swollen by means of some hard peece of fâ—esh cleaving the thin skins or panicles of the stones and then it is called of the Physitians S 〈…〉 that is to say Flesh-bursten But forasmuch as none of mine Authors Marâ—iâ— nor any other Farrier in these dayes that I know have intermedled with any kind of Bursting but only with that wherein the gut falleth down into the cod leaving all the rest apart I will only 〈◊〉 of this and that according to Martins experience which I assure you differeth not much from the precepts of the old writers But first you shall understand that the Gut-bursten and Flank-bursten doth proceed both of one cause that is to say by means that the skin called before Petitoneum is either fore strained or else broken â—ither by some stripe of another Horse or else by some strain in leaping over a hedge ditch or pale or otherwise yea and many times in passing a career through the carelesness of the Rider stopping the Horse suddenly without giving warning whereby the Horse is forced to cast his hinder legs abroad and so straineth or bursteth the skin aforesaid by means whereof the gut falleth down into the cod The signs be these The Horse will forsake his meat and stand shoâ—ing and leaâ—ing alwayes on that side that he is hurt and on that side if you search with your hand betwixt the stone and the thigh upward to the body and somewhat above the stone you shall find the gut it self big and hard in the feeling whereas on the other side you shall
tacking on the shooes again stop the hoofs with Bran and Hogs grease boyled together and let both his feet having this geer in it be wrapped up in a cloth even to his pasterns and there tie the clout fast Let his diet be thin and let him drink no cold water and give him in Winter wet hay and in Summer grasse Of the dry Spaven THe dry Spaven called of the Italians Spavano or Sparavagno is a great hard knob as big as a Walnut growing in the inside of the hough hard under the joynt nigh unto the master vein and causeth the Horse to halt which sorance cometh by kinde because the Horses Parents perhaps had the like disease at the time of his generation and sometime by extreme labor and heat dissolving humors which do descend through the master vein continually feeding that place with evil nutriment and causeth that place to swell Which swelling in continuance of time becometh so hard as a bone and therefore is called of some the Bone Spaven It needeth no signes or tokens to know it because it is very much apparent to the eye and therefore most Farriers do take it to be incurable Notwithstanding Martin saith that it may be made lesse with these remedies here following Wash it with warm water and shave off the hair so far as the swelling extendeth and scarifie the place so as it may bleed then take of Cantharides one dozen of Euforbium half a spoonful break them into powder and boyl them together with a little Oyl-de-bay and with two or three feathers bound together put it boyling hot upon the sore and let his tail be tyed up for wiping away the medicine and then within half an hour after set him up in the stable and tie him so as he may not lie down all the night for fear of rubbing off the medicine and the next day anoint it with fresh butter continuing thus to do every day once the space of five or six days and when the hair is grown again draw the sore place with a hot Iron then take another hot sharp Iron like a Bodkin somewhat bowing at the point and thrust it in at the neather end of the middle line and so upward betwixt the skin and the flesh to the compasse of an inch and a half And then tent it with a little Turpentine and Hogs grease moulten together and made warm renewing it every day once the space of nine dayes But remember first immediately after his burning to take up the master vein suffering him to bleed a little from above and tie up the upper end of the vein and leave the neather end open to the intent that he may bleed from beneath until it cease it self and that shall diminish the Spaven or else nothing will do it Of the Spaven both bone and bloud DOubtless a Spaven is an evill sorance and causeth a Horse to halt principally in the beginning of his grief it appeareth on the hinder-legs within and against the joynt and it will be a little swoln and some Horses have a thorough Spaven which appeareth both within and without Of the Spaven there are two kindes the one hard and the other soft that is a Bone-Spaven and a Bloud-Spaven for the Bone-Spaven I hold it hard to cure and therefore the lesse necessary to be dealt withal except very great occasion urge and thus it may be holpen Cast the Horse and with a hot Iron slit the flesh that covereth the Spaven and then lay upon the Spaven Cantharides and Euforbium boyled together in Oyl-de-bay and anoint his legs round about either with the Oyl of Roses and with Vnguentum album camphiratum Dresse him thus for three dayes together then afterward take it away and for three dayes more lay unto it only upon flax and unsleck't Lime then afterward dresse it with Tar until it be whole The Cantharides and Euforbium will eat and kill the spungy bone the Lime will bring it clean away and the Tar will suck out the poison and heal all up sound but this cure is dangerous for if the incision be done by an unskilful man and he either by ignorance or by the swarving of his hand burn in twain the great vein that runs crosse the Spaven then the Horse is spoiled Now for the bloud Spaven that is easily helpt for I have known divers which have been but newly beginning helpt only by taking up the Spaven vein and letting it bleed well beneath and then stop the wound with Sage and Salt but if it be a great bloud Spaven then with a sharp knife cut it as you burnt the bone Spaven and take the Spaven away then heal it up with Hogs grease and Turpentine only Of the wet Spaven or through Spaven THis is a soft swelling growing on both sides of the hough and seems to go clean through the hough and therefore may be called a through Spaven But for the most part the swelling is on the inside because it is continually fed of the master vein and is greater then the swelling on the outside The Italians call this sorance Lâ—ierda or Gierdone which seemeth to come of a more fluxible humour and not so viscous or slimy as the other Spaven doth and therefore this waxeth not so hard nor groweth to the nature of a bone as the other doth and this is more curable then the other It needs no signes because it is apparent to the eye and easie to know by the description thereof before made The cure according to Martin is thus First wash shave and scarifie the place as before then take of Cantharides half an ounce of Euforbium an ounce broken to powder and Oyl-de-bay one ounce mingle them well together cold without boyling them and dresse the sore therewith two dayes together and every day after until the hair be grown again anoint it with fresh Butter Then fire him both without and within as before without tenting him and immediately take up the master vein as before and then for the space of nine dayes anoint him every day once with Butter until the fired place begin to scale and then wash it with this bath Take of Mallowes three handfuls of Sage one handful and as much of red Nettles boyl them in water until they be soft and put thereunto a little fresh Butter and bathe the place every day once for the space of three or four dayes and until the burning be whole let the Horse come in no wet Of the Selander THis is a kinde of Scab breeding in the ham which is the bent of the hough and is like in all points to the Malander proceeding of like causes and requireth like cure and therefore resort to the Malander Of the hough bony or hard knob THis is a round swelling bony like a Paris ball growing upon the tip or elbow of the hough and therefore I thought good to call it the hough-bony This sorance cometh of some stripe or bruise and
Gordianus And the reason of this name is not improbably derived from Belba a City of Egypt Pincianus a learned man calleth it Grabâ—hier because it hunteth the Scpulchres of the dead Albertus in stead of Hyaena calleth it Iona. The Arabians call it Kabo and Zabo or Ziba and Azaro I take it also to be the same Beast which is called Lacta and Ana and Zilio because that which is reported of these is true in the Hyaena they frequent graves having sharp teeth and long nails being very fierce living together in herds and flocks and loving their own kinde most tenderly but most pernicious and hateful to all other being very crafty to set upon a fit prey defending it self from the rage of stronger Beasts by their teeth and nails or else by flight or running away Wherefore we having thus expressed the name we will handle the kinds which I finde to be three the first Hyaena the second Papio or Dabuâ— the third Crocuta and Leucrocuta whereunto by conjecture we may add a fourth called Mantichora The Figure of the first HYAENA THis first and vulgar kinde of Hyaena is bred in Africk and Arabia being in quantity of body like a Wolfe but much rougher haired for it hath bristles like a Horses mane all along his back and in the middle of his back it is a little crooked or dented the colour yellowish but bespeckled on the sides with blew spots which make him look more terrible as if it had so many eyes The eyes change their colour at the pleasure of the beast a thousand times a day for which cause many ignorant writers have affirmed the same of the whole body yet can he not see one quarter so perfectly in the day as in the night and therefore he is called Lupus vespertinus a Wolf of the night The skilful Lapidarists of Germany affirm that this beast hath a stone in his eyes or rather in his head called Hyaena or Hyaenâ—us but the Ancients say that the apple or puple of the eye is turned into such a stone and that it is indued with this admirable quality that if a man lay it under his tongue he shall be able to foretel and prophesie of things to come the truth hereof I leave to the reporters Their back-bone stretcheth it self out to the head so as the neck cannot bend except the whole body be turned about and therefore whensoever he hath occasion to wry his neck he must supply that quality by removing of his whole body This Beast hath a very great heart as all other Beasts have which are hurtful by reason of their fear The genital member is like a Dogs or Wolfs and I marvail upon what occasion the writers have been so possessed with opinion that they change sexes and are some-time male and another female that is to say male one year and female another according to these Verses Si tamen est aliquid mirae novitatis in istis Alternate vices quae modo foemina tergo Passa marem est nunc esse marem miremur Hyaenam Both kindes have under their tails a double note or passage in the male there is a scissure like the secrets of a female and in the female a bunch like the stones of the male but neither one nor other inward but only outward and except this hath given cause of this opinion I cannot learn the ground thereof only Orus writeth that there is a Fish of this name which turneth sex and peradventure some men hearing so much of the Fish might mistake it more easily for the four footed Beast and apply it thereunto These engender not only among themselves but also with Dogs Lions Tygers and Wolves for the Ethiopian Lion being covered with an Hyaena beareth the Crocuta The Thoes of whom we shall speak more afterward are generated betwixt this Beast and a Wolf and indeed it is not without reason that God himself in holy Scripture calleth it by the name of a Vesperti 〈…〉 Wolfe seeing it resembleth a Wolf in the quantity colour in voracity and gluttoning in of flesh in subtilty to overcome Dogs and Men even as a Wolf doth silly Sheep Their teeth are in both Beasts like sawes their genitals alike and both of them being hungry range and prey in the night season This is accounted a most subtill and crafty beast according to the allusive saying of Mantuan Est in â—iâ— Pietas Crocodili asturia Hyaenâ— And the female is far more subtill then the male and therefore more seldom taken for they are afraid of their own company It was constantly affirmed that among eleven Hyaenaes there was found but one female it hath been believed in ancient time that there is in this beast a Magical or enchanting power for they write that about what creature so ever he goeth round three times it shall stand stone-still and not be able to move out of the place and if Dogs do but come within the compasse of their shadow and touch it they presently lose their voice and that this she doth most naturally in the full moon for although the swiftness or other opportunity of the Dogs helpeth them to flie away from her yet if she can but cast her shadow upon them she easily obtaineth her prey She can also counterfeit a mans voice vomit cough and whistle by which means in the night time she cometh to Houses or folds where Dogs are lodged and so making as though she vomited or else whistling draweth the Dogs out of doors to her and devoureth them Likewise her nature is if she finde a Man or a Dog on sleep she considereth whether she or he have the greater body if she then she falleth on him and either with her weight or some secret work of nature by stretching her body upon him killeth him or maketh him senselesse whereby without resistance she eateth off his hands but if she finde her body to be shorter and lesser then his then she taketh her heels and flyeth away If a Man meet with this Beast he must not set upon it on the right hand but on the left for it hath been often seen that when in haste it did run by the Hunter on the right hand he presently fell off from his Horse senseless and therefore they that secure themselves from this beast must be careful to receive him on the left side that so he may with more facility be taken especially saith Pliny if the cords wherein he is to be ensnared be fastened with seven knots Aelianus reporteth of them that one of these coming to a Man asleep in a Sheep-cot by laying her left hand or fore-foot to his mouth made or cast him into a deed-sleep and afterward digged about him such a hole like a grave as she covered all his body over with earth except his throat and head whereupon she sat untill she suffocated and stifled him yet Philes
attributeth this to her right foot The like is attributed to a Sea-calf and the fish Hyaena and therefore the old Magicians by reason of this exanimating property did not a little glory in these beasts as if they had been taught by them to exercise Diabolical and praestigious incantation whereby they deprived men of sense motion and reason They are great enemies to men and for this cause Solinus reporteth of them that by secret accustoming themselves to houses or yards where Carpenters or such Mechanicks work they learn to call their names and so will come being an hungred and call one of them with a distinct and articulate voice whereby he causeth the man many times to forsake his work and go to see the person calling him but the subtile Hyaena goeth further off and so by calling allureth him from help of company and afterward when she seeth time devoureth him and for this cause her proper Epithet is Aemula â—â—cis Voyce-counterfeiter There is also great hatred betwixt a Pardall and this Beast for if after death their skins be mingled together the hair falleth off from the Pardals skin but not from the Hyaenaes and therefore when the Egyptians describe a superiour man overcome by an inferiour they picture these two skins and so greatly are they afraid of Hyaenaes that they run from all beasts creatures and plaâ—es whereon any part of their skin is fastened And Aelianus saith that the Ibis bird which liveth upon Serpents is killed by the gall of an Hyaena He that will go safely through the mountains or places of this beasts abode Rasis and Allertus say that he must carry in his hand a root of Colloquintida It is also believed that if a man compasse his ground about with the skin of a Crocodile an Hyaena or a Sea-calf and hang it up in the gates or gaps thereof the fruits enclosed shall â—ot be molested with hail or lightning And for this cause Mariners were wont to cover the tops of their sails with the skins of this Beast or of the Sea-calf and Horns saith that a man clothed with this skin may passe without fear or danger through the middest of his enemies for which occasion the Egyptians do picture the skin of an Hyaena to signifie fearless audacity Neither have the Magicians any reason to ascribe this to any praestigious enchantment seeing that a Fig-tree also is never oppressed with hail nor lightning And the true cause thereof is assigned by the Philosophers to be the bitterness of it for the influence of the heavens hath no destructive operation upon bitter but upon sweet things and there is nothing sweet in a Fig tree but only the fruit Also Columella writeth that if a man put three bushels of â—eed grain into the â—kin of this Beast and afterward sow the same without all controversie it will arise with much encrease G 〈…〉 worn in an Hyaenaes skin seven dayes instead of an Amulet is very soveraign against the biting of mad dogs And likewise if a man hold the tongue of an Hyaena in his hand there 〈◊〉 Dog that dareth to seize upon him The skin of the forehead or the bloud of this Beast resisteth all kinde of Witchcraft and Incantation Likewise Pliny writeth that the hairs layed to Womens lips maketh them amorous And so great is the vanity of the Magicians that they are not ashamed to affirm that by the tooth of the upper jaw of this Beast on the right side bound unto a mans arme or any part thereof he shall never be molested with Dart or Arrow Likewise they say that by the genital of this beast and the Article of the back-bone which is called Atlantios with the skin cleaving unto it preserved in a House keepeth the family in continual concord and above all other if a man carry about him the smallest and extreme gut of his intrails he shall not only be delivered from the Tyrany of the higher powers but also foreknow the successe and event of his petitions and sutes in Law If his left foot and nails be bound up together in a Linnen bag and so fastened unto the right arme of a Man he shall never forget whatsoever he hath heard or knoweth And if he cut off the right foot with the left hand and wear the same whosoever seeth him shall fall in love with him besides the Beast Also the marrow of the right foot is profitable for a Woman that loveth not her Husband if it be put into her nostrils And with the powder of the left claw they which are anointed therewith it being first of all decocted in the bloud of a Weasil do fall into the hatred of all men And if the nails of any beast be found in his maw after he is Ilain it signifieth the death of some of his hunters And to conclude such is the folly of the Magiâ—ians that they believe the transmigration of souls not only out of one man into another but also of man into beasts And therefore they affirm that their men Symis and religious votaries departing life send their souls into Lions and the religious women into Hyaenaes The excrements or bones coming out of the excrements when it is killed are thought to have virtue in them against Magical incantations And Democritus writeth that in Cappadocia and Mesia by the eating of the hearb Therionarcha all wilde beasts fall into a deadly sleep and cannot be recovered but by the aspersion of the urine of this beast And thus much for the first kinde now followeth the second The Second kinde of HYAENA called Papio or Dabuh THis Beast aboundeth near Caesarea in quantity resembling a Fox but in wit and disposition Wolf the fashion is being gathered together for one of them to go before the flock 〈…〉 or howling and all the rest answering him with correspondent tune In hair it resembleth a 〈◊〉 and their voices are so shrill and sounding that although they be very remote and far off yet do men hear them as if they were hard by And when one of them is slain the residue flock about his carcase howling like as they made funeral lamentation for the dead When they grow to be very hungry by the constraint of famine they enter into Graves of men â—nd eat their dead bodies Yet is their flesh in Syria Damascus and Berâ—tus eaten by men It is â—alled also Randelos Abenâ—â—m Aldabha Dabha Dabah and Dhoboha which are derived from the He 〈…〉 ew word Deeb or Deeba Dabuh is the Arabian name and the Africans call him Lesâ—ph his feet and 〈…〉 gs are like to a mans neither is it hurtful to other Beasts being a base and simple creature The 〈…〉 olour of it is like a Bear and therefore I judge it to be Aâ—â—â—oâ—â—on which is ingendered of a Bear and 〈◊〉 Dog and they bark only in the night time They are exceedingly delighted with Musick such 〈◊〉 is
of the old Moon for it will have the same operation you shall therefore take as much or this dung as you can hold in your hand or fist at one time so that the quantity of the dung be unlike and you shall put it in a morter and beat it to powder and cast twenty grains of Pepper into the same fime being very diligently pounded or bruised and then you shall adde nine ounces of the best Hony unro the aforesaid mixture and four pounds of the best Wine and mix the potion in the manner of a compound Wine and the dung or dirt being dryed and beaten first 〈◊〉 on sha 〈…〉 mingle all the rest and put them together in a vessel made of glass that when you have any need you may have the medicine ready prepared to comfort him or her which is so afflicted Of the ICHNEUMON MArcellus and Solinus do make question of this Beast Ichneumon to be a kinde of Otter or the Otter a kinde of this Ichneumon which I find to be otherwise called Enydros or 〈◊〉 because it liveth in water and the reason of this name I take to be fetched ab investigando because like a Dog or hunting Hound it diligently searcheth out the seats of wilde Beasts especially the Crocodile and the Asp whose Egs it destroyeth And for the enmity unto Serpents it is called Ophi 〈…〉 us Is 〈…〉 is of opinion that the name of this Beast in the Greek is given unto it because by the favour thereof the venom and wholesomess of meates is deseried Whereof Dracontius writeth in this manner Praed 〈…〉 t Suillus 〈…〉 cujuscunque 〈◊〉 The Ic 〈…〉 foretelleth the power and presence of all poyson And it is called Suillus in Latine because like a Hog it hath bristles in stead of hair Albertus also doth call it Neomon mistaking it for Ichneumon There be some that call it an Indian Mouse because there is some proportion or similitude in the outward form between this 〈…〉 st and a Mouse But it is certain that it is bred in no other Nation but only in Egypt about the River Nilus and of some it is called Mus Pharaonis Pharaohs Mouse For Iber 〈…〉 was a common name to all the Egyptian Kings There be some that call it Thyamon and Ans 〈…〉 and also Damula mistaking it for that Weasil which is an enemy to Serpents called by the Italians Do 〈…〉 〈◊〉 yet I know no learned man but taketh these two names to signifie two different Bensts The quantity of it or stature is sometimes as great as a small Cat or Ferret and the hairs of it like the hairs of a Hog the eyes small and narrow which signifie a malignant and crafty disposition the tail of it very long like a Serpents the end turning up a little having no hairs but scales not much unlike the tail of a Mouse Aelianus affirmeth that both sexes bear young having seed in themselves whereby they conceive For those that are overcome in combates one with another are branded with a warlike mark of Villanage or subjection to their Conquerours and on the contrary side they which are conquered and overcome in fight do not only make vassals of them whom they overcome but in token thereof for further punishment fill them with their seed by carnal copulation so putting off from themselves to them the dolours and torments of bearing young This first picture of the Ichneumon was taken by Bellonius except the back be too much elevated The second picture taken out of Oppianus Poems as it was found in an old Manuscript When it is angry the hairs stand upright and appear of a double colour being white and yellowish by lines or rows in equal distance entermingled and also very hard and sharp like the hair of a Wolf the body is something longer then a Cats and better set or compacted the beak black and sharp at the nose like a Ferrets and without beard the 〈…〉 a short and round the legs black having five claws upon his hinder-feet whereof the last or hindmost of the inner 〈…〉 de of the foot is very short his tail thick towards the rump the tongue teeth and stones are like a Cats and this it hath peculiar namely a large passage compassed about with hair on the outside of his excrement hole like the genital of a woman which it never openeth but in extremity of heat the place of his excrements remaining shut only being more hollow then at other times A 〈…〉 it may be that the Authors aforesaid had no other reason to affirm the mutation of feeble or common transmigration of genital power beside the observation of this natural passage in male and female They bring forth as many as Cats and Dogs and also eat them when they are young they live both in land and water and take the benefit of both elements but especially in the River Nilus amongst the Reeds growing on the banks thereof according to the saying 〈◊〉 Nemetian Et placidis Ichneumona quaerere ripis Inter arundineas segetes For it will dive in the water like an Otter and seem to be utterly drowned holding in the breath longer then any other four-footed Beast as appeareth by his long keeping under water and also by living in the belly of the Crocodile until he deliver forth himself by eating through his bowels as shall be shewed afterwards It is a valiant and nimble creature not fearing a great Dog but setteth upon him and biting him mortally but especially a Cat for it killeth or strangleth her with three bites of her teeth and because her beak or snout is very narrow or small it cannot bite any thing except it be less then a mans fist The proportion of the body is much like a Badgers and the nose hangeth over the mouth like as it were always angry the nature of it is finding the Crocodile asleep suddenly to run down into his throat and belly and there to eat up that meat which the Crocodile hath devoured and not returning out again the way it went in maketh a passage for it self through the Beasts belly And because it is a great enemy and devourer of Serpents the common people of that Countrey do tame them and keep them familiarly in their houses like Cats for they eat Mice and likewise bewray all venemous Beasts for which cause as is said before they call it Pharaohs Mouse by way of excellency At Alexandria they sell their young ones in the Market and nourish them for profit It is a little Beast and marvellously studious of purity and cleanliness Bellonius affirmeth that he saw one of them at Alexandria amongst the ruines of an old Castle which suddenly took a Hen and eat it up for it loveth all manner of fowls especially Hens and Chickens being very wary and crafty about his prey oftentimes standing upright upon his hinder-legs looking about for a fit booty and when
the wife man caused the gold and silver plate and houshold stuffe Cooks and Servants to vanish all away Then did the Spectre like unto one that wept entreat the wise man that he would not torment her nor yet cause her to confess what manner of person she was but he on the other side being inexorable compelled her to declare the whole truth which was that she was a Phairy and that she purposed to use the company of Meâ—ippus and feed him fat with all manner of pleasures to the intent that afterward she might eat up and devour his body for all their kinde love was but only to feed upon beautiful young men These and such like stories and opinions there are of Phairies which in my judgement arise from the prestigious apparitions of Devils whose delight is to deceive and beguile the mindes of men with errour contrary to the truth of holy Scripture which doth no where make mention of such inchanting creatures and therefore if any such be we will hold them the works of the Devil and not of God or rather I beleeve that as Poets call Harlots by the name of Charybdis which devoureth and swalloweth whole Ships and Navies alluding to the insatiable gulph of the Sea so the Lamiae are but Poetical allegories of beautiful Harlots who after they have had their lust by men do many times devour and make them away as we read of Diomedes daughters and for this cause also Harlots are called Lupae She-wolves and Lepores Hares To leave therefore these fables and come to the true description of the Lamia we have in hand In the four and thirty chapter of Esay we do finde this beast called Lilith in the Hebrew and translated by the Ancients Lamia which is there threatned to possess Babel Likewise in the fourth chapter of the Lamentations there it is said in our English translation that the Dragons lay forth their breasts in Hebrew they are called Eihannim which by the confession of the best Interpreters cannot signifie Dragons but rather Sea-calves being a general word for strange wilde Beasts Howbeit the matter being well examined it shall appear that it must needs be this Lamia because of her great breasts which are not competible either to the Dragon or Sea-calves so then we will take it for granted by the testimony of holy Scripture that there is such a Beast as this Chrysostomus D 〈…〉 also writeth that there are such Beasts in some part of Lybia having a womans face and very beautiful also very large and comely shapes on their breasts such as cannot be counterfeited by the art of any Painter having a very excellent colour in their fore-parts without wings and no other voice but hissing like Dragons they are the swiftest of foot of all earthly Beasts so as none can escape them by running for by their celerity they compass their prey of Beasts and by their 〈◊〉 they overthrow men For when as they see a man they lay open their breasts and by the beauty thereof entice them to come near to conference and so having them within their compass they devour and kill them unto the same things subscribe Coelius and Giraldus adding also that there is a certain crooked place in Lybia near the Sea-shore full of sand like to a sandy Sea and all the neighbour places thereunto are Deserts If it fortune at any time that through shipwrack men come there on shore these Beasts watch upon them devouring them all which either endevour to travel on the Land or else to return 〈◊〉 again to Sea adding also that when they see a man they stand stone still and stir not till he come unto them looking down upon their breasts or to the ground whereupon some have thought they seeing them at the first sight have such a desire to come near them that they are drawn into their compass by a certain natural Magical Witch-craft but I cannot approve their opinions either in this or in that wherein they describe him with Horses feet and hinder-parts of a Serpent but yet I grant that he doth not only kill by biting but also by poysoning feeding upon the carcasse which he hath devoured His stones are very filthy and great and smell like a Sea-calves for so Aristophanes writing of Cleon a Coriar and lustful man compareth him to a Lamia in the greatness and filthiness of his stones the hinder part of this Beast are like unto a Goat his fore-legs like a Bears his upper parts to a Woman the body sealed all over like a Dragon as some have affirmed by the observation of their bodies when Probus the Emperour brought them forth into publick spectacle also it is reported of them than they devour their own young ones and therefore they derive their name Lamia of l 〈…〉 And thus much for this Beast Of the LION BEing now come to the discourse of the Lion justly styled by all writers the King of Beasts I cannot chuse but remember that pretty fable of Esope concerning the society and honour due unto this beast For saith he the Lyon Asse and the Fox entred league and friendship together and foraged abroad to seek convenient booties at last having found one and taken the same the Lion commanded the Asse to make division thereof the silly Asse regarding nothing but society and friendship and not honor and dignity parted the same into three equall shares one for the Lion an other for the Fox and the third for himself Whereat the Lion disdaining because he had made him equall unto the residue presently fell upon him and tear him in pieces then bidding the Fox to make the division the crafty Fox divided the prey into two parts assigning unto the Lion almost the whole booty and reserving to himself a very small portion which being allowed by the Lion he asked him who taught him to make such a partition Marry quoth the Fox the calamity of the Asse whom you lately toar in pieces In like manner I would be loath to be so simple in sharing out the discourse of the Lion as to make it equall with the treatise of the Beasts lately handled but rather according to the dignity thereof to expresse the whole nature in a large and copious tractate For such is the rage of illiterate or else envious men that they would censure me with as great severity if I should herein like an Asse forget my self if I were in their power as the Lion did his colleague for one foolish partition And therefore as when Lysimachus the son of Agathocles being cast by Alexander to a Lion to be destroyed because he had given poison to Calisthenes the Philosopher that was for the ending of his misery who was included by the said Alexander in a cave to be famished to death upon some slight displeasure the said Lysimachus being so cast unto the Lion did not like a cowardly person offer himself to his teeth but when the Lion
therefore he cannot look backward The greatness and roughness of his Neck betokeneth a magnanimous and liberal minde Nature hath given a short Neck unto the Lion as unto Bears and Tygers because they have no need to put it down to the earth to feed like an Ox but to lift it up to catch their prey His shoulders and breasts are very strong as also the forepart of his body but the members of the hinder part do degenerate For as Pliny saith Leoni vis suâ—â—na in pectore the chiefest force of a Lion is in his breast The part above his throat-hole is loose and soft and his Metaphrenoâ— or part of his back against his heart so called betwixt his shoulder-blades is very broad The back bone and ribs are very strong his ventricle narrow and not much larger then his maw He is most subject to wounds in his flanck because that part is weakest in all other parts of his body he can endure many blowes About his loyns and hip-bone he hath but little flesh The lionesse hath two udders in the midest of her belly not because she bringeth forth but two at a time for sometimes she bringeth more but because she aboundeth in milk and her meat which she getteh seldom and is for the most part flesh turneth all into milk The tail of a Lion is very long which they shake oftentimes and by beating their sides therewith they provoke themselves to fight The Grecians call it Alâ—â—a and Alciatus maketh this excellent emblem thereof upon wrath Alc 〈…〉 vâ—teres caudam dixere Leonis Qud stimulante iras concipit ille graves Lutea quum surgit bilis crudescit atro Felle dolor furias excitat indomitaâ— The neather part of his tail is full of hairs and gristles and some are of opinion that there is therein a little sting wherewithal the Lion pricketh it self but of this more afterwards The bones of Lions have no marrow in them or else it is so small that it seemeth nothing therefore they are the more strong solid and greater then any other beast of their stature and the males have ever more harder bones then the female for by striking them together you may beget fire as by the percussion of Flints and the like may be said of other beasts that live upon flesh yet are some of the bones hollow The legs of a Lion are very strong and full of Nerves and in stead of an ankle-bone it hath a crooked thing in his pastern such as children use to make for sport and so also hath the Lynx His forefeet have five distinct toes or clawes on each foot and the hinder feet but four His clawes are crooked and exceeding hard and this seemeth a little miracle in nature that Leopards Tygers Panthers and Lions do hide their clawes within their skin when they go or run that so they might not be dulled and never pull them forth except when they are to take or devour their prey also when they are hunted with their tails they cover their footsteps with earth that so they may not be bewrayed The Epithets of this beast are many whereby the authors have expressed their several natures such are these the curst kind of Lions full of stomach sharp bold greedy blunket flesh-eater Caspian Cleonean the Lord and King of the beasts and woods fierce wilde hairy yellow strong fretting teeth-gnashing Ne 〈…〉 ean thundering raging Getulian rough lowring or wry-faced impatient quick untamed free and mad according to this saying of the Poet Fertur Prâ—metheâ—â— insani Lâ—onis Vim stomacho opposuissâ—â—ostro For as the Eagle is faigned to feed upon the heart of Promâ—theus so also is the Lion the ruler of the heart of man according to the Astrologians And from hence it cometh that a man is said to bear a stomach when he is angry and that he should be more subject to anger when he is hungry then when he is full of meat These also are the Epithets of Lions wrathful maned Lybian deadly stout great Masâ—li 〈…〉 Mauritanian Partâ—ian Phrygian Molorchaean Carthaginian preying ravening stubborn snatching wrinkled cruell bloudy terrible swelling vast violent Marmarican These also are the Epithets of the Lionesse African â—old stony-hearted vengible cave-lodging fierce yellow Getulâ—an Hyrcanian ungentle Lybian cruell frowning and terrible By all which the nature of this Beast and several properties thereof are compendiously expressed in one word The voice of the Lion is called Rugitus that is roaâ—ing or â—ellowing according to this Verse of the Poet Tigrides indomita rancanâ— rugiuntque Leâ—nâ—â— And therefore cometh Rugitus Leonis the roaring of the Lion It is called also Gemitus and Fremitus as Virgil Fremit leo ore cruento And again Hinc exaudiri gemitus iraeque leonum Vincla recusantum sera sub nocte rudentum And when the young Lions have gotten a prey in token thereof they roar like the bleating of a Calf thereby calling their elders to participate with them The places of their aboad are in the mountains according to this saying Leo cacumina montium amat Their sight and their smelling are most excellent for they sleep with their eyes open and because of the brightness of their eyes they cannot endure the light of fire for fire and fire cannot agree also their smelling for which cause they are called Odorati is very eminent for if the Lionesse have committed adultery with the Leopard the male discovereth it by the sense of his Nose and for this cause also they are tamed in Tartaria and are used for hunting Boars Bears Hares Roe-bucks wilde Asses as also for wilde and outlandish Oxen and they were wont to be carryed to hunting two Lions in a Cart together and either of them had a little Dog following them There is no beast more vehement then a she or female Lion for which cause Semiramis the Babylonian tyranness esteemed not the slaughter of a male Lion or a Libbard but having gotten a Lionesse above all other she rejoyced therein A Lion when he eateth is most fierce and also when he is hungry but when he is satisfied and filled he layeth aside that savage quality and sheweth himself of a more meek and gentle nature so that it is lesse danger to meet with him filled then hungry for he never devoureth any till famine constraineth him I have heard a story of an Englishman in Barbary which turned Moor and lived in the Kings Court on a day it was said in his presence that there was a Lion within a little space of the Court and the place was named where it lodged The Englishman being more then half drunk offered to go and kill the Lion hand to hand and therewithal armed himself with a Musket Sword and Dagger and other complements and he had also about him a long Knife so forth went this regenerate English Moor more like a mad man then an advised Champion to kill this Lion and when
he came to it he found it a sleep so that with no perill he might have killed her with his Musket before she saw him but he like a fool-hardy fellow thought it as little honour to kill a Lyon sleeping as a stout Champion doth to strike his enemy behind the back Therefore with his Musket top he smote the Lion to awake it whereat the beast suddenly mounted up and without any thankes or warning set his forefeet on this Squires brest and with the force of her body overthrew the Champion and so stood upon him keeping him down holding her grim face and bloudy teeth over his face and eyes a sight no doubt that made him wish himself a thousand miles from her because to all likelihood they should be the grinders of his flesh and bones and his first executioner to send his cursed soul to the Devill for denying Jesus Christ his Saviour Yet it fell out otherwise for the Lion having been lately filled with some liberal prey did not presently fall to eat him but stood upon him for her own safegard and meant so to stand till she was an hungry during which time the poor wretch had liberty to gather his wits together and so at the last seeing he could have no benefit by his Musket Sword or Dagger and perceiving nothing before him but unavoidable death thought for the saving of his credit that he might not die in foolish infamy to do some exploit upon the Lion whatsoever did betide him and thereupon seeing the Lion did bestride him standing over his upper parts his hands being at some liberty drew out his long Barbarian knife and thrust the same twice or thrice into the Lions flank which the Lion endured never hurting the man but supposing the wounds came some other way and would not forsake her booty to look about for the means whereby she was harmed At last finding her self sick her bowels being cut asunder within her for in all hot bodies wounds work presently she departed away from the man above some two yards distance and there lay down and dyed The wretch being thus delivered from the jawes of death you must think made no small brags thereof in the Court notwithstanding he was more beholding to the good nature of the Lion which doth not kill to eat except he be hungry then to his own wit strength or valour The Male Lion doth not feed with the female but either of them apart by themselves They eat raw flesh for which cause the Grecians call them Omesteres Omoboroi and Omophagoi the young ones themselves cannot long be fed with milke because they are hot and dry being at liberty they never want meat and yet they eat nothing but that which they take in hunting and they hunt not but once a day at the most and eat every second day whatsoever they leave of their meat they return not to it again to eat it afterwards whereof some assigned the cause to be in the meat because they can endure nothng which is unsweet stale or stinking but in my opinion they do it through the pride of their natures resembling in all things a Princely majesty and therefore scorn to have one dish twice presented to their own table But tame Lions being constrained through hunger will eat dead bodies and also cakes made of meal and hony as may appear by that tame Lion which came to Apollonius and was said to have the soul in it of Amasis King of Egypt which story is related by Philostratus in this manner There was saith he a certain man which in a leam led up and down a tame Lion like a Dog whithersoever he would and the Lion was not only gentle to his leader but to all other persors that met him by which means the man got much gains and therefore visited many Regions and Cities not sparing to enter into the temples at the time of sacrificing because he had never shed bloud but was clear from slaughter neither licked up the bloud of the Beasts nor once touched the flesh cut in pieces for the holy Altar but did eat upon Cakes made with meal and hony also bread Gourds and sod flesh and now and then at customary times did drink wine As Apollonius sat in a Temple he came unto him in more humble manner lying down at his feet and looking up into his face then ever he did to any as if he had some special supplication unto him and the people thought he did it for hope of some reward at the command and for the gain of his Master At last Apollonius looked upon the Lion and told the people that the Lion did entreat him to signifie unto them what he was and wherewithal he was possessed namely that he had in him the soul of a man that is to say of Amasis King of Egypt who raigned in the Province of Sai At which words the Lion sighed deeply and mourned forth a lamentable roaring gnashing his teeth together and crying with abundance of tears whereat Apollonius stroked the Beast and made much of him telling the people that his opinion was forasmuch as the soul of a King had entred into such a kingly Beast he judged it altogether unfit that the Beast should go about and beg his living and therefore they should do well to send him to Leontopolis there to be nourished in the Temple The Egyptians agreed thereunto and made sacrifice to Amasis adorning the Beast with Chains Bracelets and branches so sending him to the inner Egypt the Priests singing before him all the way their idolatrous Hymnes and Anthems but of the transfiguration of men into Lions we shall say more afterward only this story I rehearsed in this place to shew the food of tame and enclosed Lions The substance of such transfigurations I hold to be either Poetical or else Diabolical The food therefore of Lions is most commonly of meek and gentle Beasts for they will not eat Wolves or Bears or such Beasts as live upon ravening because they beget in them melancholy they eat their meat very greedily and devour many things whole without chewing but then they fast afterwards two or three days together never eating untill the former be digested but when they fast that day they drink and the next day they eat for they seldom eat and drink both in one day and if any stick in his stomach which he cannot digest because it is overcharged then doth he thrust down his nails into his throat and by straining his stomach pulleth it out again the self same thing he doth when he is hunted upon a full belly And also it must not be forgotten that although he come not twice to one carcasse yet having eaten his belly full at his departure by a wilful breathing upon the residue he so corrupteth it that never after any beast will taste thereof for so great is the poison of his breath that it putrifieth the flesh and also in
of Claudius Caesar both of them in their several times tamed the untamed Beasts and escaped death Macarius being in the Wilderness or Mountains it fortuned a Lioness had a den neer unto his cell wherein she had long nourished blinde whelps to whom the holy man as it is reported gave the use of their eye and sight the Lioness requited the same with such gratification as lay in her power for she brought him very many sheep-skins to clothe and cover him Primus and Foelicianus Thracus Vitus Modestus and Crescentia all Martyrs being cast unto Lions received no harm by them at all but the beasts lay down at their feet and became came gentle and meek not like themselves but rather like Doves When a Bear and a Lion fell upon Tecla the Virgin a Martyr a Lioness came and fought eagerly in her defence against them both When Martina the daughter of a Consul could not be terrified or drawn from the Christian faith by any imprisonment chains or stripes nor allured by any fair words to sacrifice to Apollo there was a Lion brought forth to her at the commandment of Alexander the Emperor to destroy her who assoon as he saw her he lay down at her feet wagging his tail and fawning in a loving and fearful manner as if he had been more in love with her presence then desirous to lift up one of his hairs against her The like may be said of Daria a Virgin in the days of Numerian the Emperor who was defended by a Lioness but I spare to blot much paper with the recital of those things which if they be true yet the Authors purpose in their allegation is most profane unlawful and wicked because he thereby goeth about to establish miracles in Saints which are lone agone ceased in the Church of God Some Martyrs also have been devoured by Lions as Ignatius Bishop of Autioch Satyrus and Perpetua he under Trajan the Emperor and they under Valerian and Galienus In holy Scripture there is mention made of many men killed by Lions First of all it is memorable of a Prophet 1 King 13. that was sent by the Almighty unto Jereboam to cry out against the Altar at Bathol and him that erected that Altar with charge that he should neither eat nor drink in that place Afterward an old Prophet which dwelt in that place hearing thereof came unto the Prophet and told him that God had commanded him to go after him and fetch him back again to his house to eat and drink wherewithal being deceived he came back with him contrary to the commandment of the Lord given to himself whereupon as they sat at meat the Prophet that beguiled him had a charge from God to prophesie against him and so he did afterward as he went homeward a Lion met him and killed him and stood by the corps and his Ass not eating of them till the old Prophet came and took him away to bury him In the twentieth chapter of the same Book of Kings there is another story of a Prophet which as he went by the way he met with a man and â—ade him in the name of the Lord to wound and smite him but he would not preferring pity before the service of the Lord Well said the Prophet unto him seeing thou refusest to obey the voyce of the Lord Behold as soon as thâ—â— art departed a Lion shall meet thee and destroy thee and so it came to pass for being out of the presence of the Prophet a Iaon met him and tore him in pieces The Idolatrous people that were placed at Jerusalem by the King of Babel were destroyed by Lions and unto these examples of God his judgements I will adde other out of humane stories Paphages a King of Ambracia meeting a Lionese leading her whelps was suddenly set upon by her and torn in pieces upon whom Ovid made these verses Foeta tibi occurrat patrio popularis in arvo Sitque Paphageae causa leaena necis Hyas the brother of Hyades was also slain by a Lioness The people called Ambraciotae in Africk do most religiously worship a Lioness because a notable Tyrant which did opprese them was slain by such an one There is a Mountain neer the River Indus called Lnaus of a Shepheard so named which in that Mountain did most superstitiously worship the Moon and contemned all other Gods his sacrifices were performed in the night season at length saith the Author the Gods b 〈…〉 angry with him sent unto him a couple of Lions who tore him in pieces leaving no monument behinde but the name of the Mountain for the accident of his cruel death The Inhabitans of that Mountain wear in their ears a certain rich stone called 〈◊〉 which is very black and bred no where else but in that place There is a known story of the two Babylonian lovers Pyramus and Th 〈…〉 who in the night time had covenanted to meet at a Fountain new the sepulchre of Ninus and T 〈…〉 coming thither first as she â—ate by the Fountain a Lioness being thirsty came thither to drink water after the slaughter of an Ox at sight whereof Thisbe ran away and let fall her mantle which the Lioness finding tore it in pieces with her bloudy teeth Afterward came Pyramus and seeing her mantle all bloudy and torn asunder suspecting that she that loved him being before him at the appointed place had been killed by some wilde beast very inconsiderately drew forth his sword and thrust the same through his own body and being scarce dead Thisbe came again and seeing her lover lie in that distress as one love one cause one affection had drawn them into one place and there one fear had wrought one of their destructions she also sacrificed her self upon the point of one and the same sword There was also in Scythia a cruel Tyrant called Therodomas who was wont to cast men to Lions to be devoured of them and for that cause did nourish privately many Lions unto this cruelty did Ovid allude saying Therodomantaeos ut qui sensere Leones And again Non tibi Therodomas crudusque vocabitur Atreus Unto this discourse of the bloud-thirsty cruelty of Lions you may add the puissant glory of them who botlâ— in Sacred and prophane stories are said to have destroyed Lions When Sampson went down to Timnath it is said that a young Lion met him roaring to destroy him but the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he tore it in pieces like a Kid wherein he was a Type of Jesus Christ who in like sort being set upon by the roaring of the Devil and his members did with facility through his divine nature utterly overthrow the malice of the Devil Afterward Sampson went down to the Philistine woman whom be loved and returning found that Bees had entred into the Lions carcass and there builded whereupon he propounded this Riddle A vâ—raci exiit cibus ex forti egressa est
at this day call a Mouse The French call it Taulpe the Germa 〈…〉 Mu 〈…〉 f and in Saxon Molwurffe from whence is derived the English Mole and Molewarp The H 〈…〉 tians Schaer and Schaermouse and the Molehil they call Schaerusen of digging The Holland 〈…〉 and the Flemmings call it Mol and Molmuss in imitation of the German word the Illyrians 〈◊〉 And generally the name is taken from digging and turning up the earth with her nose and back accoâ—to the saying of Virgil Aut oculis capâ—â— fodere cubilia Talp 〈…〉 Some are of opinion that it is called Toilpa because it is appointed to an everlasting darkness in the earth of which sort Isidorus writeth thus Talpa dicta est to quod per 〈…〉 〈◊〉 〈…〉 ris dammata est enim absqu 〈…〉 is It is called also in Greek Indouros and Siphneus of Siphnon the earth because in liveth the earth and turneth it upward to make it hollow for passage The like I might say of his other names Ixliocha and Orthoponticos But this shall suffice for his name In Butotia about the Champaig 〈…〉 called Orchomani 〈…〉 there are the greatest store of Moles in the world for by digging they undermine all the fields and yet in Lâ—â—badia another Countrey of Boeotia there are none at all and if they be brought thither from any other place they will never dig but die Rodolphus Oppianus and Albertus affirm that they are created of themselves of wet earth and rain water for when the earth beginneth to putrifie the Mole beginneth to take life They are all for the most part of a black duskie colour with rough short and smooth soft hair as wooll and those hairs which were whitest when they are yong are most glistering and perfect black when they are old and Gesner affirmeth that he saw in the end of October a Mole taken which was very white mixed with a little red and the red was most of all upon her belly betwixt her forelegs and the neck and that it could not be a young one because it was two palms in length betwixt his head and tail These Beasts are all blinde and want eyes and therefore came the proverb Talpa caecior Tuphloteros aspalacos blinder then a Mole to signifie a man without all judgement wit or foresight for it is most elegantly applyed to the minde Yet if any man look earnestly upon the places where they should grow he shall perceive a little passage by drawing up the membrane or little skin which is black and therefore Aristotle saith of them in this manner probably All kindes of Moles want their sight because they have not their eyes open and naked as other Beasts but if a man pull up the skin of their browes about the place of their eyes which is thick and shadoweth their sight he shall perceive in them inward covered eyes for they have the black circle and the apple which is contained therein and another part of the white circle or skin but not apparently eminent neither indeed can they because nature at the time of generation is hindered for from the brains there belong to the eyes two strong nervie passages which are ended at the upper teeth and therefore their nature being hindered it leaveth an imperfect work of sight behinde her Yet there is in this Beast a plain and bald place of the skin where the eyes should stand having outwardly a little black spot like a Millet or Poppey-seed fastened to a nerve inwardly by pressing it there followeth a black humor or moistness and by dissection of a Mole great with young it is apparent as hath been proved that the young ones before birth have eyes but after birth living continually in the dark earth without light they cease to grow to any perfection for indeed they need them not because being out of the earth they cannot live above an hour or two Esop hath a pretty fable of the Asse Ape and Mole each once complaining of others natural wants the Asse that he had no horns and was therefore unarmed the Ape that he had no tail like other Beasts of his stature and quantity and therefore was unhandsome to both which the Mole maketh answer that they may well be silent for that she wanteth eyes and so insinuateth that they which complain shall finde by consideration and comparison of their own wants to others that they are happy and want nothing that were profitable for them Oppianus saith that there was one Phineus which was first deprived of his eye-sight and afterward turned into a Mole It should seem he was condemned first to loose his eyes and afterward his life These Moles have no ears and yet they hear in the earth more nimbly and perfectly then men can above the same for at every step or small noise and almost breathing they are terrified and run away and therfore Pliny saith that they understand all speeches spoken of themselves and they hear much better under the earth then being above and out of the earth And for this cause they dig about their lodging long passages which bringeth noises and voices to them being spoken never so low and softly like as the voice of a man carryed in a trunk reed or hollow thing Their snout is not like a Weasils as Suidas saith but rather like a Shrew-mouses or if it be lawful to compare small with great like to a Hogs Their teeth are like a Shrews and a Dogs like a Shrews in the neather teeth and furthermost inner teeth which are sharp pointed and low inwardly and like a Dogs because they are longer at the sides although only upon the upper jaw and therefore they are worthily called by the Grecians Marootatous that is dangerous biting teeth for as in Swine the under teeth stand out above the upper and in Elephants and Moles the upper hang over the neather for which cause they are called Hyperphereis The tongue is no greater then the space or hollow in the neather chap and they have in a manner as little voice as sight and yet I marvel how the proverb came of Loquax Talpa a pratling Mole in a popular reproach against wordy and talkative persons which Ammianus saith was first of all applyed to one Julianus Capella after he had so behaved himself that he had lost the good opinion of all men The neck seemeth to be nothing it is so short standing equall with the forelegs The lights are nothing else but distinguished and separated Fibres and hang not together upon any common root or beginning and they are placed or seated with the heart which they enclose much lower toward the belly then in any other Beast Their gall is yellowish their feet like a Bears and short legs wherefore they move and run but slowly their fingers or toes wherewithal they dig the earth are armed with sharp nails and when she feeleth any harm upon her back presently she turneth upward and defendeth her self
with her snowt and feet with her feet she diggeth and with her nose casteth away the earth and therefore such earth is called in Germany Mâ—lâ—werff and in England Mole-hill and she loveth the fields especially meddowes and Gardens where the ground is soft for it is admirable with what celerity she casteth up the earth They have five toes with claws upon each forefoot and four upon each foot behind according to Albertus but by diligent inspection you shall finde five behind also for there is one very little and recurved backward which a man slightly and negligently looking upon would take to be nothing The palm of the fore feet is broad like a mans hand and hath a hollow in it if it be put together like a fist and the toes or fingers with the nails are greater then any other beasts of that quantity And to the end that he might be well armed to dig the forepart of her fore-legs consist of two solid and sound bones which are fastened to her shoulders and her claws spread abroad not bending downward and this is peculiar to this Beast not competible to any other but in her hinder legs both before and behind they are like a Mouses except in the part beneath the knee which consisteth but of one bone which is also forked and twisted The tail is short and hairy And thus much for the Anatomy and several parts They live as we have said in the earth and therefore Cardan saith that there is no creature which hath blood and breath that liveth so long together under the earth and that the earth doth not hinder their expiration and inspiration for which cause they keep it hollow above them that at no time they may want breath although they do not heave in two or three dayes but I rather believe when they heave they do it more for meat then for breath for by digging and removing the earth they take Wormes and hunt after victuals When the Wormes are followed by Moles for by digging and heaving they foreknow their own perdition they flie to the superficies and very top of the earth the silly beast knowing that the Mole their adversary dare not follow them into the light so that their wit in flying their enemy is greater then in turning again when they are troad upon They love also to eat Toads and Frogs for Albertus saith he saw a great Toad whose leg a Mole held fast in the earth and that the Toad made an exceeding great noise crying out for her life during the time that the Mole did bite her And therefore Toads and Frogs do eat dead Moles They eat also the root of Herbs and Plants for which cause they are called by Oppianus Poiophagi Herbivora herb-eaters In the month of July they come abroad out of the earth I think to seek meat at that time when wormes be scanty They are hunted by Weasils and wilde Cats for they will follow them into their holes and take them but the Cats do not eat them whereas we have said already that they have an understanding of mens speech when they hear them talk of them I may add thereunto a story of their understanding thus related by Gillius in his own experience and knowledge When I had saith he put down into the earth an earthen pot made of purpose with a narrow mouth to take Moles it fortuned that within short space as a blind Mole came along she sell into it and could not get forth again but lay therein whining one of her fellowes which followed her seeing his mate taken heaved up the earth above the pot and with her nose cast in so much till she had raised up her companion to the brim and was ready to come forth by which in that blind creature confined to darkness doth not only appear a wonderful work of Almighty God that endoweth them with skill to defend and wisely to provide for their own safety but also planted in them such a natural and mutual love one to another which is so much the more admirable considering their beginning or creation as we have shewed already Because by their continual hearing and laboring for meat they do much harm to Gardens and other places of their aboad and therefore in the husband-mans and house-wifes common-wealth it is an acceptable labor to take and destroy them For which cause it is good to observe their passages and mark the times of their coming to labor which being perceived they are easily turned out of the earth with a spade and this was the first and most common way Some have placed a board full of pikes which they fasten upon a small stick in the mole hil or passage and when the mole cometh to heave up the earth by touching the stick she bringeth down the pikes and sharp nailed boards upon her own body and back Other take a Wyar of Iron and make it to have a very sharp point which being fastened to a staffe and put into the earth where the Moles passage is they bend and so set up that when the Mole cometh along the pike runneth into her and killeth her The Grecians saith Palladius did destroy and drive away their Moles by this invention they took a great Nut or any other kind of fruit of that quantity receipt and solidity wherein they included Chaffe Brimstone and Wax then did they stop all the breathing places of the Mole except one at the mouth wherein they set this devise on fire so as the smoak was driven inward wherewithal they filled the hole and the place of their walks and so stopping it the moles were either killed or driven away Also Paramus sheweth another means to drive away and take Moles If you take white Hellebor and the rindes of wilde Mercury in stead of Hemlock and dry them and beat them to powder afterward sift them and mix them with meal and with milk-beaten with the white of an Egge and so make it into little morsels or bals and lay them in the Mole-hole and passages it will kill them if they eat thereof as they will certainly do Many use to kill both Moles and Emmets with the froath of new Oyl And to conclude by setting an earthen pot in the earth and Brimstone burning therein it will certainly drive them for ever from that place Unto which I may add a superstitious conceit of an obscure Author who writeth that if you whet a mowing sythe in a field or meddow upon the feast day of Christs Nativity commonly called Christmas day all the Moles that are within the hearing thereof will certainly for ever forsake that field meddow or Garden With the skins of Moles are purses made for the rough and soft hair and also black russes colour is very delectable Pliny hath a strange saying which is this Ex pellibus talparum cubioularis vidimus stragula adeo ne religio quidem a portentis summovâ—â— delicias that is
man that sold a Mouse for two hundred pieces of coin so great was the extremity of famine that the man which sold it dyed for hunger and as it should seem through the want of it but he which bought it lived by eating thereof the which thing argueth that necessity hunger and famin maketh men for the safegard of life to make more reckoning in extremity of the basest creatures then in prosperity they do of the best For that person which gave so much money for a Mouse at another time would have scorned to have given so much for four Oxen. And on the other side the wretched love of gain which causeth a man to endanger his own life for love of silver But I rather think that it was the hand of God himself taking vengeance of such a covetous disposition which would not suffer him to live that like Midas had gotten so much gold The enemies of Mice are many not only men which by sundry artificial devices kill them because of harm but also beasts and wilde fowl do eat their flesh and live upon them And first of all Cats and Weesils do principally hunt to catch Mice and have been therefore by the late Writers called Murilegi for their taking of Mice And the nature of the Weesil is not only more inclined to hunt after them then the Cat but is more terrible also unto them for if the brains of a Weesil the hair or rennet be sprinkled upon Cheese or any other meat whereto Mice resort they not only forbear to eat thereof but also to come in that place They are also driven away by the sprinkling of the ashes of Weesils and as all noises make them afraid so none so much as the skreeching or crying of a Weesil for at the hearing thereof they all fall astonished And besides they have more opportunity to follow and take them then Cats because their bodies are lesser and their noses and snowts longer and therefore they follow them many times into their holes and very nimbly pull them forth when they think they are most secure Foxes also kill Mice and in Italy there is a black Snake called Carbonario from his colour resembling coals which I think to be the same that the Graecians call Myagros from his hunting of Mice This Snake dâ—th also eat and devour Mice Hawks eat Mice and all the night-birds especially the night-crows and Owls How hateful a Mouse is to the Elephant we have shewed already in that story how in the presence thereof he will not touch his meat nor eat any thing over which a Mouse doth run Nor yet eat in the cratch or manger wherein a Mouse hath been Ponzeâ—â—us affirmeth that there is great love between Mice and Serpents for sometimes they play together There is a hatred betwixt Bats Frogs and Mice as may appear by Anthologius Museus and others It is said also that they are hateful to Oysters whereof I know no reason except it be because they love their fish And Alciaâ—â—s hath a pretty embleme which he entituleth Captivus ob gulam wherein he sheweth that a Mouse watcheth an Oyster when he gapeth and seeing it open thrusts in his head to eat the fish assoon as ever the Oyster felt his teeth presently he closeth his shell again and so crusheth the Mouses head in pieces whereby he deciphereth the condition of those men which destroy themselves to serve their bellies And thus much for the love and enmity betwixt Mice and other Beasts Now concerning the actions of men they hunt Mice to be rid from their annoyances because they do not only destroy the things they eat and live upon other mens cost and therefore Parasites are compared unto unto them whom the Germans call Schmorotzer and Tellerlecker that is smell-feasts and lick-spickets are compared to Mice because they live at other mens tables But also Mice do defile and corrupt and make unprofitable whatsoever they taste and therefore the Egyptians when they would describe corruption do picture a Mouse For these causes have men invented many devices snares and gins the general whereof is called by the Latines Muscipula and by the Graecians Muspala and Myagra the divers and several forms whereof I will not disdain to set down For the wise Reader must consider that it is as necessary or rather more necessary for most men to know how to take Mice then how to take Elephants And although every woman and silly Rat-catcher can give instruction enough therein yet their knowledge cannot excuse my negligence if I should omit the inventions and devices of the Ancients whereby they delivered themselves from the annoyances of these beasts And therefore first of all to declare the manner of catching them in places where corn is kept Let your Mouse-trap be placed to catch Mice right against the door but let them have room to come in and in short time it will so fear them that they will trouble you no more But if Mice breed in the ground under crevices except you fill all the crevices with Mouse-traps you will never catch them which the Inhabitants of the Island Pandataria are fain to do There are other kinde of Mouse-traps which do catch Mice alive and othersome which do kill them either being pressed down with the weight of it or stifled with water or otherwise as with a strong piece of Iron being small and hung right against the button of the trap on the which piece of Iron they hang meat and so by that means the Mouse is catched by putting her head through the hole to snatch at the meat for she by stirring the Iron doth loosen the button and so her head is shut fast in the hole And there are other kinde of Mouse-traps which are covered all over into the which the Mouse may run and if you have put any water therein they are presently stifled Of all which kinde of traps shall be severally tracted And first of all those which do catch Mice alive The common kinde of this Mouse-trap is made of wood long and four-cornerwise and is framed of four boards but the hinder part is strengthened with strong wiers of Iron that she may without danger look in to see what she may get there and that the smell of that which she findeth there may allure her to come to it And the former part hath a hole in the top through which there is put a small piece of Iron and also there is made a trap-door in form of a Percullis to the which the Iron is very slightly hung that when the Mouse cometh to catch at the meat she is suddenly taken by falling of the same but the meat which you fasten to the neather end of this Iron hook must be fat or the crust of cheese or bread which if it be a little toasted at the fire it will not be amiss that the Mouse may smell it far off Some do make these kinde of traps double
fall And you may lay a stone upon the uppermost board that it may fall the heavier And there are some also which to the lower board do fasten iron pins made very sharp against the which the Mice are driven by the weight of the fall Furthermore there is another kinde of trap made to cover them alive one part of it cut out of a small piece of wood the length of the palm of thy hand and the breadth of one finger and let the other part of it be cut after the form of a wedge and let this piece of wood be erected like a little pillar and let the wedge be put into the notch of another piece of wood which must be made equal with the other or very little shorter and this pillar must be so made that the Moule may not perish before she come to the meat the wood where the meat must stand ought to be a span long and you must fasten the meat about the middle of it but the former part of it must have a cleft which must begin a little from the brim and shall be made almost the length of two fingers and you must make it with two straight corners and take away half the breadth of the wood These three pieces of wood being thus made ready thou shall erect a little pillar so that the wedge may be downward whereby the Mouse may see the meat every where and let the meat be hung in the former corner of the pillar so if the Mouse shall touch the meat he shall be pressed down with the fall of the board Mice also by the fall of a cleft board are taken which is held up with a pillar and having a little spattular of wood whereon the meat shall lye so made that the pillar doth not open being parted except when the Mouse cometh to touch the meat and so by that means she is taken There is also another manner of Mouse-trap used among us which is let there be a hole made and compassed about with a board of a foot long and five or six fingers broad the compass whereof must be four fingers into this hole let there be put a vessel made of wood the length of ones fist but round and very deep and in the middle of each side of this vessel let there be made a hole wherein there is put in a thread made of Iron with meat and let it be compassed about with a small thread which must be fastened overthwart the hole and the part of the thread which hangeth down must be crooked that the meat may be fastened thereto and there must be a piece of the thread without to the which may be tied a stronger piece of wood which is the thread whereon the meat is hanged by the which the Mouse is taken by putting her head into the vessel to catch at the meat And also Mice are taken otherwise with a great Cane wherein there is a knot and in the top of it let there be made a little bow with a Lute string and there stick a great needle in the middle of the pole of the Cane and let the pole be made just in the middle and let there be bound a piece of flesh beneath so prepared that when the Mouse shall bite and move the skin that then the string slippeth down and so the needle pierceth through his head and holdeth him that he cannot run away But among all the rest there is an excellent piece of workmanship to catch Mice which I will here set down Take a piece of wood the length of both thy fists one fist broad and two fingers thick and let there be cut off about some two fingers a little beyond the middle of half the breadth And that breadth where it was cut ought to be more declining and lower after the manner of this letter A. And you must put to the side of this a piece of wood half a circle long bending and in the middle part of each side holes pierced through so that the half circle may be strait and plainly placed to the foundation of the wood that the trap being made it may rest upon the same half circle and upon this half circle let there be placed Iron nails very sharp so that the instrument by falling down may cover the Irons of the half circle assoon as ever they touch the same Furthermore there is another manner of trap when a vessel out of which they cannot escape is filled half up with water and upon the top thereof Oat meal is put which will swim and not sink making the uppermost face of the water to seem white and solid whereunto when the Mouse cometh she leapeth into the Oatmeal and so is drowned And the like may be done with chaffe mingled with Oatmeal and this in all traps must be observed wherein Mice are taken alive that they be presently taken forth for if they make water in the place their fellows will for ever suspect the trap and never come near it till the favour of the urine be abolished â—alladius saith that the thick froth of Oyl being infused into a dish or brasen Caldron and set in the middle of the house in the night time will draw all the Mice unto it wherein they shall stick fast and not be able to escape Pliny saith that if a Mouse be gelded alive and so let go she will drive away all the residue but this is to be understood of the Sorex If the head of a Mouse be flead or if a male Mouse be flead all over or her tail cut off or if her leg be bound to a post in the house or a bell be hung about her neck and so turned going she will drive away all her fellows And Pliny saith that the smoke of the leaves of the Ewe tree because they are a poyson will kill Mice so also will Libbards-bane and Henbane-seed and Wolf-bane for which cause they are severally called Myâ—ctonos and the roots of Wolf-bane are commonly sold in Savoy unto the Country people for that purpose In Germany they mingle it with Oatmeal and so lay it in balls to kill Mice The fume of Wallwort Calcauth Parsely Origanum and Deaths-herb do also kill Mice you may also drive them away with the fume of the stone Haematites and with green Tamarisk with the hoof of a Mule or of Nitre or the ashes of a Weesil or a Cat in water or the gall of an Ox put into bread The seed of Cowcumbers being sod and sprinkled upon any thing Mice will never touch it likewise wilde Cowcumber and Coloquintida kill Mice To keep Mice from Corn make morter of the froth of Oyl mingled together with chaff and let them well dry and afterwards be wrought throughly then plaister the walls of your garnery therewith and when they are dry cast more froth of Oyl upon them and afterwards carry in your corn and the Mice will never annoy it Wormwood
he smote them with Emrods in the bottom of their belly that is God punished them with Mice for he afflicted their bodies and the fruits of the earth for which cause cap. 6 they advice with themselves to send back again the Ark of the Lord with a present of Golden Mice Ovid Homer and Orpheus call Apollo Smyntheus for the Cretians in ancient time called Mice Smynthae Now the faigned cause thereof is thus related by Aelianus There was one Crinis which was a Priest of Apollo who neglected his daily sacrifice for the which through abundance of Mice he was deprived of the fruits of the earth for they devoured all At which loss Apollo himself was moved and taking pity of the misery appeared to one Hoâ—da a Neat-heard commanding him to tell Crinis that all the cause of that penury was for that he had omitted his accustomed sacrifice and that it was his duty to offer them again diligently or else it would be far worse afterward Crinis upon the admonition amended the fault and immediately Apollo killed all the devouring Mice with his darts whereupon he was called Smyntheus Others again say that among the Aeolians at Troas and Hamaxitus they worshipped Mice and Apollo both together and that under his Altar they had meat and nourishment and also holes to live in safely and the reason was because once many thousand of Mice invaded the corn fields of Aeolia and Troy cutting down the same before it was ripe and also frustrating the husbandman of fruit and hope this evil caused them to go to Delphos to ask counsel at the Oracle what they should do to be delivered from that extremity where the Oracle gave answer that they should go sacrifice to Apollo Smyntheus and afterward they had sacrificed they were delivered from the Mice and that therefore they placed a statue or figure of a Mouse in the Temple of Apollo When the Trojans came out of Creet to seek a habitation for themselves they received an Oracle that they should there dwell where the Inhabitants that were born of the earth should set upon them the accomplishing whereof fell out about Hamaxitus for in the night time a great company of wilde Mice set upon their bows quivers and strings leathers of their bucklers and all such soft instruments whereby the people knew that that was the place wherein the Oracle had assigned them to build the City and therefore there they builded Ida so called after the name of Ida in Creet and to conclude we do read that Mice have been sacrificed for the Arcadians are said first of all to have sacrificed to their Gods a Mouse and secondly a white Horse and lastly the leaves of an Oak And to conclude Aelianus telleth one strange story of Mice in Heraclea that there is not one of them which toucheth any thing that is consecrated to Religion or to the service of their Gods Insomuch that they touch not their Vines which are sacred to religious uses but suffer them to come to their natural maturity but depart out of the Island to the intent that neither hunger nor folly cause them to touch that which is dedicated to divine uses And thus much for the natural and moral hory of Mice now followeth the medicinal The Medicines of the Mouse The flesh of a Mouse is hot and soft and very little or nothing fat and doth expel black and melancholy choler A Mouse being flead or having his skin pulled off and afterwards cut through the middle and put unto a wound or sore wherein there is the head of a Dart or Arrow or any other thing whatsoever within the wound will presently and very easily exhale and draw them out of the same Mice being cut and placed unto wounds which have been bitten by Serpents or put to places which are stinged by them do very effectually and in short space of time cure and perfectly heal them Mice which do lurk and inhabit in Houses being cut in twain and put unto the wounds which are new made by Scorpions doth very speedily heal them A young Mouse being mingled with Salt is an excellent remedy against the biting of the Mouse called a Shrew which biting Horses and labouring Cattel it doth venome until it come unto the heart and then they die except the aforesaid remedy be used The Shrew also himself being bruised and laid unto the place which was bitten is an excellent and very profitable remedy against the same A Mouse being divided and put or laid upon Warts will heal them and quite abolish them of what kinde soever they shall be The fat which is distilled from Mice being mixed with a little Goose-grease and boyled together is an excellent and medicinable cure for the asswaging and mollifying of swellings and hard lumps or knots which do usually arise in the flesh Young Mice being beaten into small bits or pieces and mixed with old Wine and so boyled or baked until they come unto a temperate and mollifying medicine if it be anointed upon the eye-lids it will very easily procure hair to grow thereon The same being unbeaten and roasted and so given to little children to eat will quickly dry up the froath or spittle which aboundeth in their mouth There are certain of the wise men or Magâ— who think it good that a Mouse should be flead and given to those which are troubled with the Tooth-ach twice in a month to be eaten The water wherein a Mouse hath been sod or boyled is very wholesome and profitable for those to drink who are troubled with the inflammation of the jaws or the disease called the Squincy Mice but especially those of Africk having their skin pull'd off and well steeped in Oyl and rubbed with Salt and so boiled and afterwards taken in drink are very medicinable for those which have any pain or trouble in their lights and lungs The same medicine used in the aforesaid manner is very profitable for those which are troubled with a filthy mattery and bloudy spitting out with retching Sodden Mice are exceeding good to restrain and hold in the urine of Infants or children being too abundant if they be given in some pleasant or delightsome drink Mice also being cut in twain and laid unto the feet or legs of those which are gowty is an excellent remedy and cure for them Mice being dryed and beaten to powder doe very effectually heal and cure those which are scalded or burned with hot water or fire Cypres nuts being burned and pounded or beaten into dust and mixed with the dust of the hoof of a male or female Mule being dryed or stamped small and the Oyl of Myrtle added unto the same with the dirt or dung of Mice being also beaten and with the dung of a Hedge-hog new made and with red Arsenick and all mingled together with Vinegar and moist or liquid Pitch and put unto the head of any one who
left in them so fareth it with thee O Origen for thou art blinded with the Graecians doctrine and dost vomit out that poyson into their hearts which do believe thee that thou art made unto them a venemous meat whereby thou dost wrong others as thou hast been wronged thy self Py which it is manifest that Myoxus is neither a Toad nor a Frog but the Dormouse And the charm which is made for the Asses urine as we have shewed already in his story Gallus bibit non meiit Myoxus meiit non bibit The Cock drinketh and maketh not water the Dormouse maketh water and never drinketh But whether it be true or no that she never drinketh I dare not affirm But this is certain that she drinketh but very seldom and it ought to be no wonder that she should make water for tame Conies as long as they can feed upon green herbs do render abundance of urine and yet never drink The Graecians also do call this Beast Elayos although that word do likewise signifie a Squirrel In Maesia a Wood of Italy there is never found Dormouse except at the time of their littering They are bigger in quantity then a Squirrel the colour variable sometimes black some-times grisled sometimes yellow on the back but alwayes a white belly having a short hair and a thinner skin then the Pontique Mouse They are also to be found in Helvetia about Clarona It is a biting and an angry Beast and therefore seldom taken alive The beak or snowt is long the ears short and pricked the tail short and not very hairy at the end the middle of the belly swelleth down betwixt the breast and the loins which are more narrow and trussed up together they are always very fat and for that cause they are called Lardironi Buck-mast is very acceptable meat unto them and doth greatly fatten them they are much delighted with Walnuts they climbe trees and eat Apples according to some but Albertus saith more truly that they are more delighted with the juyce then with the Apple For it hath been oftentimes found that under Apple-trees they have opened much fruit and taken out of it nothing but the kernels for such is their wit and policy that having gathered an Apple they presently put it in the twist of a tree betwixt boughs and so by sitting upon the uppermost bough press it asunder They also grow fat by this means In ancient time they were wont to keep them in coops or tuns and also in Gardens paled about with board where there are Beeches or Walnut trees growing and in some places they have a kinde of earthen pot wherein they put them with Walnuts Buckmast and Chesnuts And furthermore it must be be observed that they must be placed in rooms convenient for them to breed young ones their water must be very thin because they use not to drink much and they also love dry places Titus Pompeius as Varro saith did nourish a great many of them enclosed and so also Herpinus in his Park in Gallia It is a Beast well said to be Animal Semiferum a creature half wilde for if you set for them hutches and nourish them in Warrens together it is observed that they never assemble but such as are bred in those places And if strangers come among them which are separated from them either by a Mountain or by a River they descry them and fight with them to death They nourish their parents in their old age with singular piety We have shewed already how they are destroyed by the Viper and it is certain that all Serpents lie in wait for them Their old age doth end every Winter They are exceeding sleepy and therefore Martial saith Somniculosos illi porrigit glires They grow fat by sleeping and therefore Ausonius hath an elegant verse Dic cessante cibo somno quis opimior est glis Because it draweth the hinder-legs after it like a Hare it is called Animal tractile for it goeth by jumps and little leaps In the Winter time they are taken in deep ditches that are made in the Woods covered over with small sticks straw and earth which the Countreymen devise to take them when they are asleep At other times they leap from tree to tree like Squirrels and that they are killed with Arrows as they go from bough to bough especially in hollow trees for when the Hunters finde their haunt wherein they lodge they stop the hole in the absence of the Dormouse and watch her turn back again the silly Beast finding her passage closed is busied hand and foot to open it for entrance and in the mean season cometh the Hunter behinde her and killeth her In Tellinâ— they are taken by this means The Countrey men going into the fields carry in their hands burning Torches in the right time which when the silly Beast perceiveth with admiration thereof flocketh to the lights whereunto when they were come they were so dazled with the brightness that they were stark blinde and might so be taken with mens hands The use of them being taken was to eat their flesh for in Rhetia at this day they salt it and eat it because it is sweet and fat like Swines flesh Ammianus Marcellinus wondereth at the delicacy of his age because when they were at their Tables they called for ballances to weigh their fish and the members of the Dormouse which was not done saith he without any dislike of some present and things not heretofore used are now commended daily Apitius also prescribeth the muscles and flesh inclosed in them taken out of every member of a Dormouse beaten with Pepper Nut kernels Parsenips and Butter stuffed all together into the belly of a Dormouse and sewed up with thread and so baked in an Oven or sod in a Kettle to be an excellent and delicate dish And in Italy at this day they eat Dormice saith Coelius yet there were ancient laws among the Romans called Leges censoriae whereby they were forbidden to eat Dormice strange birds Shel-fish the necks of Beasts and divers such other things And thus much shall suffice for the description of the Dormouse The Medicines of the Dormouse Dormice being taken in meat do much profit against the Bulimon The powder of Dormice mixed with Oyl doth heal those which are scalded with any hot liquor A live Dormouse doth presently take away all Warts being bound thereupon Dormice and Field mice being burnt and their dust mingled with Hony will profit those which desire the clearness of the eyes if they do take thereof some small quantity every morning The powder of a Dormouse or field Mouse rubbed upon the eyes helpeth the aforesaid disease A Dormouse being flead roasted and anointed with Oyl and Salt being given in meat is an excellent cure for those that are short winded The same also doth very effectually heal those that spit out filthy matter or corruption Powder of Dormice
or field Mice or young Worms being mixed with Oyl doth heal those that have Kibes on their heels or Chilblains on their hands The fat of a Dormouse the fat of a Hen and the marrow of an Ox melted together and being not infused into the Ears doth very much profit both the pains and deafness thereof The fat of Dormice being boiled as also of field-mice are delivered to be most profitable for the eschewing of the Palsie The fat of a Dormouse is also very excellent for those which are troubled with a Palsie or shaking of the joints The skins and inward part of a Dormouse being taken forth and boiled with Hony in a new vessel and afterwards poured into another vessel will very effectually heal all diseases which are incident to the ears being anointed thereupon The skin of a Dormouse or a Silkworm being pulled off and the inward parts thereof being boiled in a new brafen vessel with Hony from the quantity of twenty seven ounces even to three and so kept that when there is need of a certain bathing vessel the medicine being made warm and poured into the ears doth help all pains deafness or inflammation of the ears The fat of a Dormouse is commended to be very medicinable for the aforenamed diseases The same is profitable for all pains aches or griefs in the belly The urine of a Dormouse is an excellent remedy against the Palsie And thus much shall suffice concerning the medicinal vertues of the Dormouse Of the Hamster or Cricetus the first figure taken by Michael Horus The second picture taken by John Kentmant and it is her fashion and and protracture to lie thus when she is angry for so doth her colour appear both on the back and belly THis Beast is called in Latine Cricetus and in the German tongue Hamester Traner and Kâ—rnfaerle that is Pigs of the corn It is a little Beast not much bigger then a Rat dwelling in the earth of the roots of corn she is not drawn against her will out of her Cave at any time but by pouring hot water or some other liquor The head of it is of divers colour the back red the belly white and the hair sticketh so fast to the skin that it is easier to pull the skin from the flesh then any part of the hair from the skin It is but a little Beast as we have said but very apt to bite and fight and full of courage and therefore hath received from nature this ornament and defence that it hath a bony helmet covering the head and the brain when it standeth up upon the hinder-legs It resembleth both in colour and proportion a Bear And for this cause some Writers have interpreted it to be the Beast called Arctomys thus described by Saint Jerom. It is a creature saith he abounding in the Regions of Palestina dwelling always in the holes of Rocks and Caves of the earth not exceeding the quantity of a Hedgehog and of a compounded fashion betwixt a Mouse and a Bear But we have shewed already that this is the Alpine Mouse and therefore we will not stand to confute it here The name Cricetus seems to be derived from the Illyrian word which we read in Gelenius to be Skuzecziek this Beast saith he is common in the Northern parts of the world and also in other places in figure and shape it resembleth a Bear in quantity it never exceedeth a great Sorex It hath a short tail almost like no tail it goeth upon two legs especially when it is moved to wrath It useth the fore-feet in stead of hands and if it had as much strength as it hath courage it would be as fierceful as any Bear For this little Beast is not afraid to leap into the Hunters face although it can do no great harm either with teeth or nails It is an argument that it is exceeding hot because it is so bold and eager In the uppermost chap it hath long and sharp teeth growing two by two It hath large and wide cheeks which they always fill both carrying in and carrying out they eat with both whereupon a devouring fellow such a one as Stasimus a servant to Plautus was is called Cricetus a Hamster because he filleth his mouth well and is no pingler at his meat The fore-feet are like a Moulds so short but not altogether so broad with them he diggeth the earth and maketh his holes to his den but when he diggeth so far as he cannot cast the earth out of the hole with them then he carryeth it forth in his mouth His Den within he maketh large to receive corn and provision of fruit for his sustentation whereinto he diggeth many holes winding and turning every way that so he may be safe both against Beasts that hunt him and never be killed in his Den And also if a man dig the earth he may finde his lodging with more difficulty In the harvest time he carryeth in grain of all sorts and my Author saith Neque minus in colligendo industrius quam in eligendo conservandoque est astutus optima enim reponit He is no less industrious in the gathering of his provision then crafty and politick in the choise and keeping it for it lays up the best and lest that it should rot under the earth it biteth off the fibres and tail of the grain laying up the residue amongst grass and stubble It lies gaping over his gathered grain even as the covetous man is described in the Satyre sleeping upon his mony bags It groweth fat with steep like Dormice and Conies The holes into the Cave are very narrow so that with sliding out and in they wear their hair The earth which cometh out of their holes doth not lie on heaps like Mole-hils but is dispersed abroad and that is fittest for the multitude of the holes and all the holes and passages are covered with earth but that hole which for the most part he goeth out at is known by a foot path and hath no hinderance in it the other places at which she goeth out are more obscure and hid and she goeth out of them backwards The male and female do both inhabit in one Cave and their young ones being brought forth they â—leave their old Den and seek them out some new habitation In the male there is this perfidity that when they have prepared all their sustenance and brought it in he doth shut out the female and fuffereth her not to approach nigh it who revengeth his perfidiousness by deceit For going into some adjoyning Cave she doth likewise partake of the fruits which were laid up in store by some other secret hole in the Cave the male never perceiving it So that nature hath wonderfully fore-seen the poverty of all creatures neither is it otherwise amongst men for that which they cannot do by equity they perform by fraud This also cometh in the speech of the common people
mean the greater Linces of the cruelty of this Beast Martiall made this distichon Matutinarum non ultima praeda ferarum Savus Oryx constat qui mihi morte canum It is reported of this Beast that it liveth in perpetual thirst never drinking by reason that there is no water in those places where it is bred and that there is in it a certain bladder of liquor whereof whosoever tasteth shall never need to drink This Beast liveth in the Wilderness and notwithstanding his magnanimous and unresistible strength wrath and cruelty yet is he easily taken by snares and devices of men for God which hath armed them to take Elephants and tame Lions hath likewise indued them with knowledge from above to tame and destroy all other noisome Beasts Concerning the picture of this Beast and the lively visage of his exterior or outward parts I cannot express it because neither my own sight nor the writings of any credible Author doth give me sufficient direction to deliver the shape thereof unto the world and succeeding Ages upon my credit and therefore the Reader must pardon me herein I do not also read of the use of the flesh or any other parts of this Beast but only of the horns as is already expressed whereunto I may adde the relation of Strabo who affirmeth the Aethiopian Silli do use the horns of these Beasts in wars instead of swords and spears for incredible is the hardness and sharpness of them which caused Juvenal to write thus Et Getulus Oryx hebeti lautissima ferro Caeditur For although of the own length they are not able to match a pike yet are they fit to be put upon the tops of pikes as well as any other artificial thing made of steel or iron and thus I will conclude the story of this Beast The SCYTHIAN WOLF Of the OTTER THere is no doubt but this Beast is of the kinde of Beavers because it liveth both on the water and on the land and the outward form of the parts beareth a similitude of that Beast The Italians do vulgarly call this Beast Lodra and the Latines besides Lutra Fluviatilis Canicula a Dog of the Waters and some call them Cats of the Waters the Italians besides Lodra call it also Lodria and Loutra the French Vne Loutre or Vng Loutre the Savoyans Vne Leure the Spaniards Nutria and the Illyrians Widra the Graecians Lytra because it sheareth asunder the roots of the trees in the banks of the Rivers Some of the Graecians call it Enhydris although properly that be a Snake living in the waters called by Theodorus and Hermolaus Lutris Albertus calleth it Luter and Anadrz for Enhydris Also Boatus by Silvaticus and the Graecians call filthy and thick waters Lutrai for which cause when their Noble ancient Women went to bathe themselves in water they were bound about with skins called Oan Loutrida that is a Sheeps skin used to the water The French men call the dung of an Otter Espranite de loutres the steps of an Otter Leise Marches the whelps of an Otter Cheaux by which word they call also the whelps of Wolves Foxes and Badgers Although they be a kinde of Beaver as we have said already yet they never go into the Sea and they abound almost in all Nations where there are Rivers or Fish-pools as namely in Italy France Germany Helvetia England and Scandinavia Likewise in all Sarmatia in the Bay of Borysthenes They are most plentiful in Italy where the River Padus is joyned to the Sea Also they abound in Noples Their outward form is most like unto a Beaver saving in their tail for the tail of a Beaver is fish but the tail of an Otter is flesh They are less then Beavers some compare them unto a Cat and some unto a Fox but I cannot consent unto the Fox They are bigger then a Cat and longer but lesser then a Fox and therefore in my opinion they are well called Dogs of the water They exceed in length for in Swetia and all the Northern Rivers they are three times so long as a Beaver They have a rough skin and the hair of it very soft and neat like the hair of a Beaver but different in this that it is shorter and unequal also of colour like a Ches-nut or brownish but the Beavers is white or ash-colour It hath very sharp teeth and is a very biting Beast likewise short legs and his feet and tail like a Dogs which caused Bellonius to write that if his tail were off he were in all parts like a Beaver differing in nothing but his habitation For the Beaver goeth both to the Salt waters and to the fresh but the Otter never to the salt For in the hunting of fish it must often put his nose above the water to take breath it is of a wonderful swiftness and nimbleness in taking his prey and filleth his den so full of fishes that he corrupteth the air or men that take him in his den and likewise infecteth himself with a pestilent and noisome savour whereupon as the Latines say of a stinking fellow He smels like a Goat so the Germans say of the same He smels like an Otter In the Winter time he comes out of the caves and waters to hunt upon the land where finding no other food he eateth fruits and the bark of trees Bellonius writeth thus of him he keepeth in pools and quiet aters rivers terrifying the flocks of fish and driving them to the bank-sides in great number to the holes and creeks of the earth where he taketh them more copiously and more easie but if he want prey in the waters then doth he leap upon the land and eat upon green herbs he will swim two miles together against the stream putting himself to great labour in his hunger that so when his belly is full the current of the stream may carry him down again to his designed lodging The females nourish many whelps together at their udders until they be almost as big as themselves for whom the hunters search as for the dams among the leaves and boughs which the over-flowings of waters in the Winter time have gathered together and laid on heaps It is a sharp biting Beast hurtful both to men and dogs never ceasing or loosing hold after he hath laid his mouth upon them until he make the bones to crack betwixt his teeth whereupon it was well said by Olaus Mag. Lutrae mordaces quadrato ore Otters are most accomplished biters It is a very crafty and subtil Beast yet it is sometimes tamed and used in the Northern parts of the world especially in Scandinavia to drive the fishes into the Fisher-mens nets for so great is the sagacity and sense of smelling in this Beast that he can directly winde the fishes in the waters a mile or two off and therefore the Fishers make great advantage of them yet do they forbear his use because he
dwell with the Lamb and the Pardal Libbard and Panther shall lie with the Kid. So in the vision of Daniel chap. 7. among the four beasts comming out of the Sea the Prophet seeth Nameâ— a Leopard In the 13 Revel of 8. John he seeth another Beast rising out of the Sea having ten horns and he saith it was like Pardalet which Erasmus translateth Pardo a Leopard Jeâ— 5 Pardus Nameâ— vigilat super civâ—â—atem eorum ut omnen inde â—gâ—â—dientem dâ—â—ceâ—pat That is a Panther or Pardal watcheth at the gates of the City that he may tear in pieces every one that cometh forth Factus sum eis sicut Leo sicut Pardus sicut Namer directus ad viam suam For Namer in that place the Graecians translate Pardalis a Pardal In the 13. Jer. Si muâ—are potest Aethiops 〈◊〉 suam â—ut Pardus maculas suas vos poteritis beâ—e facere cum diuiceritis malum If the Blackmoore can change his skin or the Leopard his spots theâ— may you do well which have learned to do ill Cant 14. Coronabâ—â—is de vertice Siner Hermon de cubilibus Leonum de montibus Pardorum That is Thou shalt be crowned from the top of Siner and Hermon from the dens of the Lions and the Mountains of the Leopards Now according to Brocardus the Mountain of the Leopards is distant from Tripolis in the holy lan 〈…〉 two leagues Raâ—â—s and Avicen two Arabians do call the Panther and Leopard by one name Alpheth or Alphil so that by comparing all these together the Panther Pardal Libbard and Leopard are but one Beast called by divers names For the farther manifesting hereof it is good to examin what is said of the Pardal and Leopard in particular that so having expressed that it may be clear by the discourse succeeding that there is no difference betwixt them and the Panther or very small First of all therefore it is said of the Pardus that it differeth not from the Panther but only in sex and that the skin hath received a natural tincture of divers spots Aristotle writeth thus of it Cutis Chamaeleontis distincta mâ—culis ut Pardalia The skin of the Chamaelion is spotted like a Pardals and in relation of Lampridius where he sheweth how Heliogabalus was wont to shut up his drunken friends â—um Leonibus Leopardis ursis ita ut expergefacti in cubiculo eodem Leones ursos Pardos cum luce vel quod est gravius nocte invenirent ex quo plerique exanimati sunt and so forth By which words it is apparent that those which in the first place he calleth Leopards in the last place he calleth Pardals and the only difference betwixt the Leopard Pardal and Lion is that the Leopard or Pardal have no manes and therefore they are called Ignobiles Leones Isidorus and Solinus write in this manner Pardus secundum post Pantheram est genus varium ac velocissimum praeceps ad sanguinem saltu enim ad mortem ruit ex ad ulterio Pardi Leâ—nae Leopardus noscitur tertiam originem efficit That is to say the Pardal is the next kinde to a Panther being divers coloured and very swift greedy after bloud and catcheth his prey by leaping the Leopard is bred betwixt the Pardal and the Lioness and so that maketh a third kinde by which testimony it appeareth that these names make three several kindes of Beasts not distinct in nature but in quantity through commixture of generation The greatest therefore they call Panthers as Bellunensis writeth The second they call Pardals and the third least of all they call Leopards which for the same cause in England is called a Cat of the Mountain And truly in my opinion until some other can shew me better reason I will subscribe hereunto namely that they are all one kinde of Beast and differ in quantity only through adulterous generation For in Africk there is great want of waters and therefore the Lions Panthers and other Beasts do assemble themselves in great numbers together at the running Rivers where the Pardals and the Lions do engender one with another I mean the greater Panthers with the Lionesses and the greater Lions with the Panthers and so likewise the smaller with the smaller and thereby it cometh to pass that some of them are spotted and some of them without spots The Pardal is a fierce and cruel Beast very violent having a body and minde like ravening birds and some say they are ingendered now and then betwixt Dogs and Panthers or betwixt Leopards and Dogs even as the Lycopanthers are ingendred betwixt Wolves and Panthers It is the nature of these Pardals in Africk to get up into the rough and thick trees where they hide themselves amongst the boughes and leaves and do not only take birds but also from thence leap down upon Beasts and Men when they espy their advantage and all these things do belong unto the Panthers Concerning the Leopard the word it self is new and lately invented for it is never found among any of the ancients before Julius Capitolinus or Spartianus Sylvaticus maketh no difference betwixt Pardalis and Leopardus and the Italians generally call a Pardal Leopardo and never Pardo except some of the Poets for brevity sake in a verse The Leopard is like to a Lion in the head and form of his members but yet he is lesser and nothing so strong by the sight of a Leopards skin Gesner made this description of the Beast The length saith he from the head to the tail was as much as a mans stature and half a cubit The tail of it self three spans and a half the breadth in the middle three spans the colour a bright yellow distinguished into divers spots the hair short and mossie The price of the skin was about five nobles or forty shillings for they differ in price according to the Regions out of which they are brought they which come furthest are sold dearest and they which come less way are sold cheapest It is a wrathful and an angry Beast and whensoever it is sick it thirsteth after the bloud of a wilde Cat and recovereth by sucking that bloud or else by eating the dung of a man Above all other things it delighteth in the Camphory tree and therefore lyeth underneath it to keep it from spoil and in like sort the Panther delighteth in sweet gums and spices and therefore no marvel if they cannot abide Garlick because it annoyeth their sense of smelling And it is reported by S. Ambrose that if the walls of ones house or sheep-coat be anointed with the juyce of Garlick both Panthers and Leopards will run away from it but of this matter we shall say more afterwards The Leopard is sometimes tamed and used in stead of a Dog for hunting both among the Tartarians and other Princes for they carry them behinde them on Horse-back and when they see a Deer or Hart or convenient prey
great account of them for with them they binde up their own hair platting it and folding it in curious manner every hair is two cubits in length and upon one root twenty or thirty of them grow together this great beast is one of the fearfullest creatures in the world for if he perceive himself to be but looked at of any body he taketh him to his heels as fast as he can go and yet although his heart be light his heels be heavy for saith my Author Magis studiose quam celeriter fugam peragit That is He hath a good will to run apace but cannot perform it but if he be followed upon good swift Horses or with nimble Dogs so as he perceiveth they are near to take him and he by no means can avoid them then doth he turn himself hiding his tail and looketh upon the face of the Hunter with some confidence gathering his wits together yet in fearful manner as it were to face out his pursuer or hunter that he had no tail and that the residue of his body were not worth looking after but while he standeth staring on his Hunter another cometh behinde him and killeth him with a Spear so they take off the skin and tail and throw away the flesh as unprofitable for the other recompense their labour for their pains Volaterranus relateth this a little otherwise and saith that the beast biteth off his own tail and so delivereth himself from the Hunter knowing that he is not desired for any other cause Nicolaus Venetus an Earl writing of the furthest part or Province of Asia which he calleth Macinum and I think he meaneth Serica because he saith it lyeth betwixt the Mountains of India and Cathay there are a generation of white and black Oxen which have Horses tails but reaching down to their heels and much rougher The hairs whereof are as thin as the feathers of flying birds these he saith are in great estimation for the Knights and Horsemen of that Countrey do wear them upon the top of their lances and spears for a badge or cognizance of honour the which I thought fit to be remembred in this place because I take them to be either the same with these Indian beasts or very like unto them The Porcuspine or Porcupine I Cannot learn any name for this Beast among the Hebrews and therefore-by probability it was unknown to them The Graecians call it Acâ—nthocoiros and Hystrix that is sus setosa a hairy or bristly or thorny Hog for their quils which they bear upon their back are called both â—ili Is 〈…〉 ae villi pinnâ— acâ—lâ—i and spin 〈…〉 that is both hairs bristles rough hair pins prickles and thorns The Arabians call it Adalâ—ull and Aduaibul Adâ—bul Adulbusâ— and some 〈◊〉 which by Avicen and his Glossographer is defined to be 〈◊〉 Ericius habens spinas 〈◊〉 an Hedghogâ— of the Mountain having quils or thorns upon his baâ—k which he shooteth off at his pleasure The Graecians at this day call it 〈◊〉 which is derived or rather corrupted of 〈◊〉 The Italians call him Porco-spinoso and Histricâ— or Istâ—ice without an Aspiration the Spaniards 〈…〉 the French Porc-espic the I 〈…〉 ans Porscospino and Morâ—kasâ—wiiniia imitating therein the Germans which call a Sea-hog Ein Mâ—â—rschâ—â—yn The Germans in some places call it â—arâ—n and in other places Dornsch 〈…〉 that is a Thorny-hog by a feigned name in imitation of other Nations and also Porcopick following the Italians Spaniards French English and Illyrians I will not stand to consute them who write that this Beast is a Sea-breast and not a Beast of the land nor yet those that make question whether it be a kinde of Hedge 〈◊〉 not for without all controversie as the Arabians Pliny Albertus Bellunensis and other do affirm the vulgar Hedge-hog is Ericius Sylvestris and the Porcupine Ericius Montanus These are bred in India and Africk and brought up and down in Europe to be seen for mony Likewise about the City Cassem in Tartaria by the sight of one of these it appeared that it was three foot long the mouth not unlike to a Hares but with a longer slit or opening so also the head of the same similitude the ears like to the earâ— of a man the fore-feet were like the feet of a Badger and the hinder-feet like the feet of a Bear it hath a mane standing up in the upper part right or direct but hollow or bending before Upon the bunches of his lips on either side of his mouth there groweth forth long black bristles The general proportion of his body is like a Swines and they never exceed the stature of a Swine of half a year old The four formost teeth hang over his lips and that which is most admirable in him the Quills or Thorns growing upon his back in stead of hair he useth for hands arms and weapons They first grow out of the back and sides which are of two colours that is parly black and partly white which whensoever he pleaseth he moveth to and fro like as a Peacock doth his tail they grow in length two three or four hands breadths they stand not in any confused order of colours but in well formed distinguished ranks being sharp at the points like a knife When they are hunted the Beast stretcheth his skin and casteth them off one or two at a time according to the necessity upon the mouths of Dogs or legs of the Hunters that follow her with such violence that many times they stick into trees and Wood wherefore Solinus writeth thus and also Paulus Venetus Cum capiuntur spinis suis saepe homines canes laedunt 〈…〉 nam canes in eos provocati adeo irritant feras illas ut simul concurrentes terga sua quibus spina innituntur vehementer commoveant atque in viciniores homines canes vibrent That is to say When they are taken they many times hurt both Dogs and men for when the Dogs being provoked by them run upon the backs which bear the quils they are so far stirred that they cast them off upon all that stand near them and therefore they fight flying The Hunters to save their Dogs do devise engins and traps wherein to take them besides the quills that grow upon their backs they have also some upon their heads and necks which they never cast off but keep them on as a Horse doth his mane The pilgrims that come yearly from Saint James of Compostella in Spain do bring back generally one of these quils in their Caps but for what cause I know not The pace of this Beast is very slow and troublesome unto it and therefore it is hardly drawn out of his den which it diggeth like a Badger from which it never goeth far but feedeth upon those things which are near unto it It is a filthy Beast smelling ranck because it liveth so much in the earth being wilde it never drinketh and I
for the honor of Sheep did neither eat nor sacrifice them and therefore we read in holy Scripture that the Israelites were an abomination to the Egyptians because they both killed and sacrificed Sheep as all Divines have declared There is a noble story of Clitus who when he sacrificed at the Altar was called away by King Alexander and therefore he left his sacrifices and went to the King but three of the Sheep that were appointed to be offered did follow after him even into the Kings presence whereat Alexander did very much wonder and that not without cause for he called together all the Wise-men and Sooth-sayers to know what that prodigy did foreshew whereunto they generally answered that it did foreshew some fearful events to Clitus for as much as the Sheep which by appointment were dead that is ready to die did follow him into the presence of the King in token that he could never avoid a violent death and so afterwards it came to passe for Alexander being displeased with him because as it is said he had railed on him in his drunkenness after the sacrifice commanded him to be slain and thus we see how divine things may be collected from the natures of Sheep These things are reported by Plutarch and Pausanias Another note of the dignity of Sheep may be collected from the custom of the Lacedemonians When they went to the wars they drove their Goats and their Sheep bâ—fore them to the intent that before they joyned battle they might make sacrifice to their Gods the Goats were appointed to lead the way for the Sheep for they were drove formost and therefore they were called 〈◊〉 and on a time this miraculous event fell out for the wolves set upon the flocks and yet contrary to their ravening nature they spared the Sheep and destroyed the Goats which notable fact is worthy to be recorded because that God by such an example among the Heathen Pagans did demonstrate his love unto the good in sparing the Sheep and his hatred unto the wicked in destroying the Goats and therefore he reserved the Sheep to his own Altar Idibus alba Jovi grandior agna cadit So saith Obid Ngram hiemi pecudem zephyris foelicibus albam So saith Virgil. And again Huc castus Hibilla Nigâ—â—â—um multo pecudumte sanguine ducet To Jupiter and to the Sun they were wont to sacrifice white Sheep or Lambs but to Pluto and to the Earth they sacrificed black Sheep or Lambs in token of deadnesse Therefore Tibullus writeth Interea nigras pecudes promittite Diti And Virgil saith Duc nigras pecudes ea prima piacula sunto When the Greoians sent their spies to the tents of the Trojans to discover what order strength and discipline they observed Nestor and the anâ—ients of Greece vowed unto the Gods for every one of the Captains a several gift that was O 〈…〉 melainan thelen hyporrenon that is a black Sheep great with young the reason whereof is given by the Scholiast they vowed saith he a black Sheep because the spies went in the night time blackness being an emblem of darkness and a Sheep great with young because of good fortune for they sped well in Troy In Apollonia there were certain Sheep that were dedicated to the Sun and in the day time they fed neer the river in the best pasture being lodged every night in a goodly spaâ—ious cave neer the City over whom the greatest men both for wealth strength and wit were appointed every night to watch by turns for their better safegard and the reason of this custody and the great account made of these Sheep was for that the Oracle had commanded the Apollonians to do so unto them and make much of them Afterwards Evenius a noble man among them keeping watch according to his turn fell asleâ—p so that threescore of the said Sheep were killed by Wolves which thing came in question among the common Magistrates to know the reason of that fact and how it came to pass whether by negligence or by some other violent incursion Evenius being no wayes able to defend it was condemned to have both his eyes put out that so he might be judged never more worthy to see the light with those eyes which would not wake over their charge but wink and sleep when they should have been open And to conclude I will but add this one thing more that whereas the Egyptians worshipped the Sheep for a god God permitted the same unto the Jews to be eaten among common and vulgar meats and also to be burned at the Altar for sacrifice and whereas the said Egyptians did not only eat but sacrifice swines flesh God himself did forbid his people that they should never eat or tast of Swines flesh as an abominable thing by which he signifieth how contrary the precepts of men are to his own laws for that which he forbiddeth they allow and that which they allow he forbiddeth and therefore how far the people of God ought to be from superstition and from the traditions of men is most manifest by this comparison for that was never sanctified that came not into the Temple and that was never lawful which was not approved by God and those things which in his law have greatest appearance of cruelty yet are they more just and equall then the most indifferent inventions of men which seem to be stuffed but with mercy and gilded over with compassion And these things most worthy Readers I have thought good to express in this place for the dignity and honorable account which the greatest men of the world in former times have made of Sheep and thereby I would incite and stir you up if it were but one noble spirited learned man which is furnished with wit means and opportunity to dive and pierce into the secrets of English Sheep and Shepherds and to manifest unto the world the best and most approved means and medicines for the propulsing and driving away of all manner of diseases from those innocent profitable beasts and for their conservation in all manner of health and welâ—are I am sorry that our times are so far poysoned with Covetousness that there is no regard of God man or beast but only for profit and commodity for as for the service of God we see that the common devotion of men and practise of their Religion is founded upon a meer hope that therefore God will better prosper them in worldly affairs and if it were not for the reward in this world the professors of Religion would not be half so many as now they are and that is true in them which the Devil slanderously objected to Job namely that they do not serve God for nothing and they had rather with Dives have the Devils favour in rich garments and delicate fare then with Lazarus with misery and contempt enjoy the favour of God and to set up their hopes for an other world As for Men we see that the
the appointment and direction of his Keeper When he is angry he beateth the ground with his foot and they were wont to hang a board of a foot broad wherein were droven many sharp nails with the points towards the head so that when the Beast did offer to fight with his own force he woundeth his fore-head They were wont also to hang a shrimp at the horn of the Ram and then the Wolf will never set upon their flocks And concerning their horns which are the noblest parts of their body most regarded yet I must speak more for there was wont to be every year amongst the Indians a fight betwixt men wilde Beasts Bulls and tame Rams and a murtherer in ancient time was wont to be put to death by a Ram for by art the Beast was so instructed never to leave him till he had dashed out his brains It is reported of a Rams horns consecrated at Delos brought from the coast of the red Sea that weighed twenty and six pounds being two cubits and eight fingers in length There was a Ram in the flocks of Poricles that had but one horn whereupon when Lampon the Poet had looked he said Ex duabas quae in urbe vigetent factionibus fore ut altera obscurata ad anum Periclem apud quem visum foret portentum resideret civitatis potentia That whereas there were two contrary raging factions in the City it should happen that Pericles from whose possessions that monster came should obscure the one and take the whole government of the City It is reported by Rasis Albertus that if the horns of a Ram be buryed in the earth they will turn in to the herb Spirage for rottenness and putrefaction is the mother of many creatures and herbs There was as Aristotle reporteth in his Wonders a childe born with a Rams head and it is affirmed by Ovid that Medea inclosed an old decrepit Ram in a brazen vessel with certain kinde of medicines and afterwards at the opening of the said vessel she received a young Lamb bred upon the Metamorphofis of his body Concerning Phrixus whereof we have spoken in the former part of our discourse of the Sheep there is this story He was the son of Athaman and Nepheles Afterward his mother being dead he feared the treachery of his mother in law and step-dame Inus and therefore with his sister Helle by the consent of their Father he swam over a narrow arm of the Sea upon the back of a Ram carrying a golden fleece which before that time his Father had bestowed upon him His sister Helle being terrified with the great roaring of the water fell off from the Rams back into the Sea and thereof came the name of Hellespont of Helle the Virgin and Pontus the Sea but he came lately to Colchis to King Aetes where by the voyce of a Ram who spake like a man he was commanded to offer and dedicate him to Jupiter surnamed Phryxus and also that golden fleece was hanged up and reserved in the Temple of Colchis until Jason by the help of Medea aforesaid did fetch it away and the Ram was placed among the Stars in his true shape and was called Phrixeus of Phrixus who was the Father of the Phrygian Nation Of this fabulous tale there are many explications and conjectural tales among the learned not unprofitable to be rehearsed in this place Coelius and Palaephatus say that the Ram was a ship whose badge was a Ram provided by Athaman for his son to sail into Phrygia and some say that Aries was the name of a man that was his foster-father by whose counsel and charge he was delivered from his step-mother Inus Other say that there was a Book of parchment made of a Rams skin containing the perfect way to make gold called Alchimy and thereby Phrixus got away But in Athens there was reserved the Image of this Phrixus offering the Ram upon which he was born over the Sea to the God Laphystius and whereas there are in Colchis certain Rivers out of which there is gold growing and oftentimes found whereupon some of them have received their name as Chrysorrhoa and the men of that Countrey said to be greatly inriched thereby they gave occasion of all the Poetical fictions about the golden fleece There are in some places of Africk certain Sheep whose wooll hath the colour of gold and it may be that from this occasion came the talk of golden fleeces It is said that when Atreus reigned in Peloponnesus he vowed to Diana the best whatsoever should be brought forth in his flock and it fortuned that there was yeaned a golden Lamb and therefore he neglecting his vow did not offer it but shut it up in his chest Afterward when he gloryed and boasted of that matter his brother Thyestes greatly envyed him and counterfeiting love to his wife Acrope received from her the golden Lamb. Then being in possession thereof â—he contradicted Atreus before the people affirming that he that had the golden Lamb ought to be King and to reign among them and so laid a wager of the whole Government or Kingdom thereof with Atreus whereunto he yeelded but Jupiter by Mercury discovered the fraud and to Thyestes took him to flight and the Lamb was commanded to be offered to the Sun and so I conclude this discourse with the verses of Martial Mollia Phryxei secuisti colla mariti Hoc meruit tunicam qui tibi saepe debit And seeing that I have entered into the discourse of these Poetical fables or rather riddles which seem to be outwardly cloathed with impossibilities I trust that the Reader will give me leave a little to prosecute other Narrations as that Neptune transforming himself into a Ram deceived and defloured the Virgin Bisalpis and the Ancients when they swore in jest and merriment were wont to swear by a Ram or a Goose When the Gyants waged war with the Gods all of the Gods as the Poets write took unto them several forms and Jupiter the form of a Ram whereof Ovid writeth he was called Jupiter Ammonius Vnde recurâ—â—â— Nunc quoque formatis Lybis est cum cornibus Ammon 〈…〉 There be some that say that at what time Hercules desired very earnestly to see Jupiter whereunto he was very unwilling yet he cut off a Rams head and pulled off his thick woolly rough skin and put it upon him and so in that likeness appeared to Hercules and for this cause the Thebanes to this day do not kill rams but spare them like sanctified things except one once in a year which they sacrifice to Jupiter and say that Jupiter was called Ammonius aries because that his answers were mystical secret and crooked like a Rams horn Now concerning the sacrificing of Rams we know that God himself in his Word permitted the same to the people of the Jews and therefore it cannot be but material
in their Liver which is very broad and insatiable and there is nothing that hath a duller sense of smelling then this Beast and therefore it is not offended with any carrion or stinking smell but with sweet and pleasant ointments as we shall shew afterwards Concerning their generation or copulation it is to be noted that a Boar or male Swine will not remain of validity and good for breed past three year old by the opinion of all the antient for such as he engendereth after that age are but weak and not profitable to be kept and nourished At eight moneths old he beginneth to leap the female and it is good to keep him close from other of his kinde for two moneths before and to feed him with Barly raw but the Sow with Barly sodden One Boar is sufficient for ten Sowes if once he hear the voice of his female desiring the Boar he will not eat untill he be admitted and so he will continue pining and indeed he will suffer the female to have all that can be and groweth lean to fatten her for which cause Homer like a wise hushandman prescribeth that the male and female Swine be kept asunder till the time of their copulation They continue long in the act of Copulation and the reason thereof is because his lust is not hot nor yet proceeding from heat yet is his seed very plentiful They in the time of their copulation are angry and outragious fighting with one another very irefully and for that purpose they use to harden their ribs by rubbing them voluntarily upon trees They choose for the most part the morning for copulation but if he be fat and young he can endure it in every part of the year and day but when he is lean and weak or old he is not able to satisfie his females lust for which cause she many times sinketh underneath him and yet he filleth her while she lyeth down on the ground both of them on their buttocks together They engender oftentimes in one year the reason whereof is to be ascribed to their meat or some extraordinary heat which is a familiar thing to all that live familiarly among men and yet the wilde Swine couple and bring forth but once in the year because they are seldom filled with meat endure much pain to get and much cold for Venus in men and beasts is a companion of satiety and therefore they only bring forth in the spring time and warm weather and it is observed that in what night soever a wilde Hog or sow farroweth there will be no storm or rain There be many causes why the tame domestical Hogs bring forth and ingender more often then the wilde first because they are fed with ease secondly because they live together without fear and by society are more often provoked to lust on the other side the wilde Swine come seldom together and are often hungry for which cause they are more dull and lesse venereous yea many times they have but one stone for which cause they are called by Aristotle and the antient Grecians Chlunes and Monorcheis But concerning the Sow she beginneth to suffer the Boar at eight moneths of age although according to the diversity of Regions and air they differ in this time of their copulation for some begin at four moneths and other again tary till they be a year old and this is no marvel for even the male which engendereth before he be a year old begetteth but weak tender and unprofitable Pigs The best time of their admission is from the Calends of February unto the Vernal Equinoctial for so it hapneth that they bring forth the young in the Summer-time for four months she goeth with young and it is good that the Pigs be farrowed before harvest which you purpose to keep all the year for store After that you perceive that the Sows have conceived then separate them from the Boars lest by the raging lust of their provoking they be troubled and endangered to abortment There be some that say a Sow may bear young till she be seven year old but I will not strive about that whereof every poor Swineherd may give full satisfaction At a year old a Sow may do well if she be covered by the Boar in the moneth of February But if they begin not to bear till they be twenty moneths old or two years they will not only bring forth the stronger but also bear the longer time even to the seventh year and at that time it is good to let them go to rivers sens or miery places for even as a Man is delighted in washing or bathing so doth Swine in filthy wallowing in the mire therein is their rest joy and repose Albertus reporteth that in some places of Germany a Sow hath been found to bear young eight years and in other till they were fifteen years old but after fifteen year it was never seen that a Sow brought forth young Pigs If the Sow be fat she is always the lesse prone to conceive with young whether she be young or old When first of all they begin to seek the Boar they leap upon other Swine and in process cast forth a certain purgation called Aprya which is the same in a Sow which Hippomanes is in a Mare then they also leave their herdfellows which kinde of behavior or action the Latins call by a peculiar Verb Subare and that is applyed to Harlots and wanton Women by Horace Jamque subando Tenta cubilia tectaque rumpit We in English call it Boaring because she never resteth to shew her desire till she come to a Boar and therefore when an old Woman lusteth after a man being past lust by all natural possibility she is cald Anus subans And the Beast is so delighted with this pleasure of carnal Copulation that many times she falleth asleep in that action and if the male be young or dull then will the female leap upon him and provoke him yea in her rage she setteth many times upon men and women especially if that they do wear any white Garments or if their Aprya and privy place be wetted and moistned with Vinegar They have their proper voices and cries for this time of their Boaring which the Boar or male understandeth presently They are filled at one Copulation and yet for their better safegard and to preserve them from abortment it is good to suffer the Boar to cover her twice or thrice and moreover if she conceive not at the first then may she safely be permitted three or four times together and it is observed that except her ears hang down flagging and carelessely she is not filled but rejecteth the seed but if her ears fall downward and so hang all the time that the Boar is upon her then is it a most certain token that she is filled and hath conceived with young After four moneths as we have said the Sow farroweth her Pigs that is to say
men Swine The Latines call such a Hog gelded Macalis and Porcastrus that is Porcus castratus the Germans Ein barg or Boetz from whence seemeth to be derived our English Barrow-hog for so we call a gelded male-hog and a female Bass The best time therefore to geld them is in the old Moon or as we say in the wane of the Moon but Hesiod prescribeth that an Ox and a Boar should be gelded in the second quarter and first day thereof and Aristoile is of opinion that it skilleth not what age a Boar be when he is libbed but it is clear by the best experienced among these beasts there are two times of gelding them one in the Spring and the other in the Autumn and this is to be done after a double manner First by making two incisions or wounds upon his stones out of which holes the stones are to be pressed forth The second way is more perillous yet more cleanly for first of all at one wound or incision they take out one stone then that being forth with their knife they cut the small skin which parteth the stones in the cod and so press forth the second stone at the first wound afterward applying to it ordinary medicines such as we will describe in the treatise of their diseases And the opinion of Varro is that it is good to lib them at half a year old or at a year old or at three or four year old for their better fatting but best at a year and not under half a year When the stones are taken forth of an old Boar suppose two or three or four year old they are called by the Latines Polimenta because with them they polished and smoothed garments The female also is gelt or splayed although she often bore Pigs whereof they open the side neer her loins and take away from her Apria and receptacles of the Boars seed which being sewed up again in short time is enclosed in fat this they do by hanging them up by their fore-legs and first of all they which do it most commodiously must cause them to fast two days before and then having cut it they sew up and close fast again the wound or incision and this is done in the same place of the female that the stones are to be taken out in the male as Aristotle writeth but rather it appeareth by good examination and proof that it is to be cut out on the right against the bone called Os sacrum And the only cause of this Sow-gelding is for their better growth and fatning which in some Countries they use being forced thereunto through their penury and want of food but whereas is plenty of food there they never know it and the inventers hereof were the Grecians whose custom was to cut out the whole matrix And thus much for libbing gelding and splaying of Swine This beast is a most unpure and unclean beast and ravening and therefore we use not improperly to call obscoene and filthy men or women by the name of Swine or Sows They which have fore-heads eye-lids lips mouth or neck like Swine are acounted foolish wicked and wrathful all their senses their smelling excepted are dull because they have no Articles in their hearts but have thick bloud and some say that the acuteness and ripeness of the soul standeth not in the thickness of the bloud but in the cover and skin of the body and that those beasts which have the thickest skins are accounted the most blockish and farthest from reason but those which have the thinnest and softest are the quickest of understanding an example whereof is apparent in the Oyster Ox and Ape They have a marvailous understanding of the voice of their feeder and as ardent desire to come at his call through often custom of meat whereupon lyeth this excellent story When certain Pirates in the Tyrrhene sea had entred a Haven and went on land they came to a Swines stie and drew out thereof divers Swine and so carryed them on Shipboard and loosing their Anckers and tacklings do depart and sail away The Swineherds seeing the Pirats commit this robbery and not being able to deliver and rescue their Cattle because they wanted both company and strength suffered the Theeves in silence to ship and carry away their Cattle at last when they saw the Theeves rowing out of the Port and lanching into the deep then they lift up their voices and with their accustomed cries or cals called upon their Swine to come to their meat as soon as the Swine heard the same they presently gat to the right side of the Vessel or Bark and there flocking together the ship being unequally ballanced or loden overturned all into the Sea and so the Pirates were justly drowned in reward of the theft and the stolne Swine swam safely back again to their Masters and Keepers The nature of this Beast is to delight in the most filthy and noisome places for no other cause as I think but because of their dull senses Their voice is called Grunnitus gruntling Sordida sus pascens ruris gramina grunnit which is a terrible voice to one that is not accustomed thereunto for even the Elephants are afraid thereof especially when one of them is hurt or hanged fast or bitten then all the residue as it were in compassion condoling his misery run to him and cry with him and this voice is very common in Swine at all hands to cry except he be carryed with his head upwards towards heaven and then it is affirmed he never cryeth the reason whereof is given by Aphrodisian because it is alway accustomed to look downward and therefore when it is forced to look upwards it is suddenly appaled and afraid held with admiration of the goodly space above him in the heavens like one astonished holdeth his peace some say that then the artery of his voice is pressed and so he cannot cry aloud There is a fish in the river Achelous which gruntleth like a hog whereof Juvenal speaketh saying Et quam remigibus grunnisse Elpenora porcis And this voice of Swine is by Caecilius attributed to drunken men The milk of Swine is very thick and therefore cannot make whay like a Sheeps howbeit it suddenly coagulateth and congealeth together Among divers males or Boars when one of them is conqueror the residue give obedience and yeeld unto him and the chief time of their fight or discord is in their lust or other occasions of food or strangeness at which time it is not safe for any man to come neer them for fear of danger from both parties and especially those which wear white garments And Strabo reporteth in general of all the Belgian Swine that they were so fierce strong and wrathful that it was as much danger to come near them as to angry Wolves Nature hath made a great league betwixt Swine and Crocodiles for there is no beast that may so freely feed by
severall meats and whole Beasts as Lambs Birds Capons and such like to serve the appetites of the most strange belly-gods and Architects of gluttony and therefore Cincius in his oration wherein he perswaded the Senators and people to the law Fannia reproveth this immoderate riot in banquets In apponendo mensis porcum Trojanum and indeed it wanted not effect for they forbad both Porcum Trojanum and Callum Aprugnum There was another Raven-monster-dish called Pinax wherein were included many Beasts Fowles Egges and other things which were distributed whole to the guests and no marvell for this Beast was as great as a Hog and yet gilded over with silver And Hippolocus in his Epistle to Lynceus speaking of the banquet of Caramis saith thus Allatus est nobis etiam porcus dimidia parte diligenter assus sive tostus dimidia altera parte tanquam ex aqua molliter elixus mira etiam coqui industria ita paratus ut qua parte jugulatus esset quomodo variis deliciis refertus ejus vener non appareat There was brought to us a Hog whereof the one half was well roasted and the other half or side well sod and this was so industriously prepared by the Cook that it did not appear where the Hog was slain or received his deadly wound nor yet how his belly came to be stuffed with divers and sundry excellent and delicate things The Romans had a fashion to divide and distribute a Hog which appeareth in these Verses of Martial Iste tibi faciet bona Saturnalia porcus Inter spumantes ilice pastus apros And of the eating of a sucking Pig Martial also writeth in this manner Lacte mero pastum pigrae mihi matris alumnum Ponat Aetolo de sue dives edat I might add many other things concerning the eating and dressing of Swines flesh both young and old but I will passe it over leaving that learning to every Cook and Kitchin-boy Concerning Bacon that which is cald by the Latins Perna I might add many things neither improper nor impertinent and I cannot tell whether it should be a fault to omit it in this place The word Perna after Varro seemeth to be derived from Pede but in my opinion it is more consonant to reason that it is derived from the Greek word Pterna which is the ribs and hips of the Hog hanged up and salted called by Martial Petaso and by Plautus Ophthalmia Horaeum Scombrum and Laridunn Quanta pecus pestis veniet quanta labes larido The time of the making of Bacon is in the Winter season and all the cold weather and of this Martial writeth very much in one place Musteus est propera charos ne differ amicos Nam mihi cum vetulo sit petasone nihil And again Et pulpam dubio de petasone voras Cretana mihi fiet vel massa licebit De menapis lauti de petasone vorant Strabo in his time commended the Bacon of the Gaules or of France affirming that it was not inferiour to the Asian or Lycian an old City of Spain called Pompelon neer Aquitania was also famous for Bacon They first of all killed their hogs and then burned or scalded off all their hair and after a little season did slit them assunder in the middle laying them upon salt in some tub or deep trough and there covering them all over with salt with the skin uppermost and so heap flitch upon flitch till all be salted and then againe they often turned the same that every part and side might receive his season that is after five daies laying them undermost which were uppermost and those uppermost which were undermost Then after twelve days salting they took all out of the tub or trough rubbing off from it all the salt and so hanged it up two days in the winde and the third day they all to anoint it with oyl and did hang it up two days more in the smoak and afterward take it down again and hang it or lay it up in the larder where all the meat is preserved still looking warily unto it to preserve it from Mice and Wormes And thus much shall suffice at this time for the flesh of Hogs both Pork and Bacon The milk of a Sow is fat and thick very apt to congeal and needeth not any runnet to turn it it breedeth little whay and therefore it is not fit for the stomach except to procure vomiting and because it hath been often proved that they which drink or eat Sow milk fall into scurfs and Leprosies which diseases the Asians hate above all other therefore the Egyptians added this to all the residue of their reasons to condemn a Sow for an unclean and filthy beast And this was peculiarly the saying of Manethon With the skins of Swine which the Grecians did call Phorine they made shoo-leather but now a days by reason of the tenderness and looseness thereof they use it not but leave it to the Sadlers and to them that cover Books for which cause it is much better then either Sheep or Goats skins for it hath a deeper grain and doth not so easily fall off Out of the parings of their skins they make a kinde of glew which is preferred before Taurocollum and which for similitude they call Choerocollum The fat of Swine is very pretious to liquor shooes and boots therewithal The Amber that is in common use groweth rough rude impolished and without clearness but after that it is sod in the grease of a Sow that giveth suck it getteth that nitour and shining beauty which we finde to be in it Some mix the bloud of Hogs with those medicines that they cast into Waters to take fishes and the Hunters in some Countries when they would take Wolves and Foxes do make a train with a Hogs liver sod cut in pieces and anointed over with hony and so anointing their shoos with Swines grease draw after them a dead Cat which will cause the beast to follow after very speedily The hairs of Swine are used by Cobblers and Shoomakers and also with them every Boy knoweth how to make their Nose bleed The dung is very sharp and yet it is justly condemned by Columella for no use no not to fatten the earth and Vines also are burned therewithal except they be diligently watered or rest five years without stirring In Plinies time they studied to enlarge and make their Lettice grow broad and not close together which they did by slitting a little the stalk and thrusting gently into it some Hogs dung But for trees there is more especial use of it for it is used to ripen fruit and make the trees more plentiful The Pomegranats and Almonds are sweetned hereby and the Nuts easily caused to fall out of the shell Likewise if Fennel be unsavory by laying to the root thereof either Hogs dung or Pigeons dung it may be cured and when any Apple tree is affected and razed with Worms
by taking of Swines dung mixed and made soft like morter with the urine of a man layed unto the root it is recovered and the Wormes driven away and if there be any rents or stripes visible upon trees so as they are endangered to be lost thereby they are cured by applying unto the stripes and wounds this dung of Swine When the Apple trees are loose pour upon their roots the stale of Swine and it shall establish and settle them and wheresoever there are Swine kept there it is not good to keep or lodge Horses for their smell breath and voice is hateful to all magnanimous and perfect spirited Horses And thus much in this place concerning the use of the several parts of Swine whereunto I may add our English experiments that if Swine be suffered to come into Orchards and dig up and about the roots of the Apple trees keeping the ground bare under them and open with their noses the benefit that will arise thereby to your increase of fruit will be very inestimable And here to save my self of a labor about our English Hogs I will describe their usage out of Mr. Tussers husbandry in his own words as followeth and first of all for their breeding in the Spring of the year he writeth in general Let Lent will kept offend not thee For March and April breeders be And of September he writeth thus To gather some mast it shall stand thee upon With servant and children yer mast be all gone Some left among bushes shall pleasure thy Swine For fear of a mischief keep Acornes fro kine For roâ—ting of pasture ring Hog ye have need Which being well ringled the better doth feed Though young with their elders will lightly keep best Yet spare not to ringle both great and the rest Yoke seldome thy swine while shacke time doth last For divers misfortunes that happen too fast Or if you do fancy whole eare of the Hog Give ear to ill neighbor and ear to his Dog Keep hog I advise thee from medow and Corne For out alowd crying that ere he was borne Such lawlesse so haunting both often and long If dog set him chaunting he doth thee no wrong And again in Octobers husbandry he writeth Though plenty of Acornes the Porkelings to fat Not taken in season may perish by that If ratling or swelling get once in the throat Thou losest thy porkling a Crown to a Groat What ever thing fat is again if it fall Thou venterest the thing and the fatnesse withall The fatter the better to sell or to kill But not to continue make proof if you will In November he writeth again Let Hog once sat lose none of that When mast is gone Hog falleth anon Still fat up some till Shrovetide come Now Porke and sowce bears tacke in a house Thus far of our English husbandry about Swine Now followeth their diseases in particular Of the diseases of Swine HEmlock is the bane of Panthers Swine Wolves and all other beasts that live upon devouring of flesh for the Hunters mix it with flesh and so spread or cast the flesh so poysoned abroad in bits or morsels to be devoured by them The root of the white Chamelion mixed with fryed Barly flour Water and oyl is also poyson to Swine The black Ellebor worketh the same effect upon Horses Oxen and Swine and therefore when the beasts do eat the white they forbear the black with all wearisomeness Likewise Henbane worketh many painful convulsions in their bellies therefore when they perceive that they have eaten thereof they run to the waters and gather Snails or Sea-crabs by vertue whereof they escape death and are again restored to their health The hearb Goosefoot is venemous to Swine and also to Bees and therefore they will never light upon it or touch it The black Night-shade is present destruction unto them and they abstain from Harts tongue and the great bur by some certain instinct of nature If they be bitten by any Serpents Sea-crabs or Snails are the most present remedy that nature hath taught them The Swine of Scythia by the relation of Pliny and Aristotle are not hurt with any poyson except Scorpions and therefore so soon as ever they are stung by a Scorpion they die if they drink And thus much for the poyson of Swine Against the cold of which these beasts are most impatient the best remedy is to make them warm sties for if it be once taken it will cleave faster to them then any good thing and the nature of this beast is never to eat if once he feel himself sick and therefore the diligent Master or keeper of Swine must vigilantly regard the beginnings of their diseases which cannot be more evidently demonstrated then by forbearing of their meat Of the Measels THe Measels are called in Greek Chalaza in Latin Grandines for that they are like hailstones spred in the flesh and especially in the leaner part of a Hog and this disease as Aristotle writeth is proper to this Beast for no other in the world is troubled therewith for this cause the Grecians call a Measily Hog Chaluros and it maketh their flesh very loose and soft The Germans call this disease Finnen and Pfinnen the Italians Gremme the French Sursume because the spots appear at the root of the tongue like white seeds and therefore it is usuall in the buying of Hogs in all Nations to pull out their tongue and look for the Measels for if there appear but one upon his tongue it is certain that all the whole body is infected And yet the Butchers do all affirm that the cleanest hog of all hath three of these but they never hurt the swine or his flesh and the Swine may be full of them and yet none appear upon his tongue but then his voice will be altered and not be was wont These abound most of all in such Hogs as have fleshy legs and shoulders very moist and if they be not over plentiful they make the flesh the sweeter but if they abound it tasteth like stock-fish or meat over-watered If there be no appearance of these upon their tongue then the chap-man or buyer pulleth off a bristle from the back and if bloud follow it is certain that the beast is infected and also such cannot well stand upon their hinder legs Their tail is very round For remedy hereof divers days before their killing they put into their wash or swill some ashes especially of Hasel trees But in France and Germany it is not lawful to sell such a Hog and therefore the poor people do only eat them Howbeit they cannot but engender evill humors and naughty bloud in the body The roots of the bramble called Ramme beaten to powder and cast into the holes where Swine use to bath themselves do keep them clear from many of these diseases and for this cause also in antient time they gave them Horse-flesh sodden and Toads sodden in water to drink the
and if they drink it before they be affected therewith they never fall into it and the like is attributed to the hearb Trinity and Viâ—la Martia likewise the blew flowers of Violets are commended for this purpose by Dioscorides Of the Kernels THese are little bunches rising in the throat which are to be cured by letting bloud in the shoulder and unto this disease belongeth that which the Germans call Rangen and the Italians Sidor which is not contagious but very dangerous for within two dayes the beast doth die thereof if it be not prevented This evil groweth in the lower part or chap of the Swines mouth where it doth not swell but waxing white hardeneth like a piece of horn through pain whereof the beast cannot eat for it is in the space betwixt the fore and the hinder teeth the remedy is to open the Swines mouth as wide as one can by thrusting into it a round bat then thrust a sharp needle through the same sore and lifting it up from the gum they cut it off with a sharp knife and this remedy helpeth many if it be taken in time Some give unto them the roots of a kinde of Gentian to drink as a speciall medicine which the Germans for that cause call Rangen cruâ—e but the most sure way is the cutting it off and like unto this there is such another growing in the upper chap of the mouth and to be cured by the same remedy the cause of both doth arise from eating of their meat over hot and therefore the good Swineheard must labour to avoid that mischief The mischief of this is described by Virgil Hinc canibus blandis rabies venit quatit aegros Tussts anhela sues ac faucibus angit abe sis Of the pain in their Lungs FOr all manner of pain in their Lungs which come by the most part for want of drink are to have Lung-wort stamped and given them to drink in water or else to have it tyed under their tongues two or three dayes together or that which is most probable because it is dangerous to take it inwardly to make a hole in the ear and to thrust it into the same tying it fast for falling out and the same vertue hath the white Hellebor But the diseases of the Lungs are not very dangerous and therefore the Butchers say that you shall seldom finde a Swine with sound Lungs or Livers sometimes it falleth out that in the Lights of this Beast there will be apparent certain white spots as big as half a Walnut but without danger to the Beast sometimes the Lights cleave to the ribs and sides of the Beast for remedy whereof you must give them the same medicines that you give unto Oxen in the same disease Sometimes there appear certain blathers in the Liver of water which are called water-gals sometimes this is troubled with vomiting and then it is good to give them in the morning fryed pease mingled with dust of Ivory and bruised Salt fasting before they go to their pastures Of the diseases in the Spleen BY reason that this is a devouring Beast and through want of water it is many times sick of the Spleen for the cure whereof you must give them Prunes of Tamariske pressed into water to be drunk by them when they are a thirst this disease cometh for the most part in the Summer when they eat of sweet and green fruits according to this verse Strata jacent passim sua quaque sub arbore poma The vertue of these Prunes of Tamarisk is also very profitable against the diseases of the Milt and therefore it is to be given to Men as well as to Beasts for if they do but drink out of pots and cups made out of the wood of the tree Tamariske they are easily cleared from all diseases of the Spleen and therefore in some Countries of this great tree they make Hog troughes and mangers for the safegard of their Beasts and where they grow not great they make pots and cups And if a Hog do eat of this Tamarisk but nine dayes together at his death he shall be found to be without a Spleen as Marcellus writeth When they become loose in their bellies which happeneth to them in the Spring time by eating of green Herbs they either fall to be lean or else to die When they cannot easily make water by reason of some stoppage or sharpness of Urine they may be eased by giving unto them spurge-seed And thus much for the diseases of Swine For conclusion whereof I will add hereunto the length of a Swines life according to Aristotle and Pliny if it be not cut off by sickness or violent death for in their dayes they observed that Swine did live ordinarily to fifteen years and some of them to twenty And thus much for the nature of Swine in general The medicines of the Hog The best remedy for the bitings of venomous Serpents is certainly believed to be this to take some little creatures as Pigs Cocks Kids or Lambs and tear them in pieces applying them whiles they are hot to the wound as soon as it is made for they will not only expell away the poyson but also make the wound both whole and sound For the curing of Horses which are troubled with the inflammation of the Lungs Take a sucking Pig and kill him neer unto the sick Horse that you may instantly pour the bloud thereof into his jawes and it will prove a very quick and speedy remedy The panch of a sucking Pig being taken out and mingled with the yolk which sticketh to the inner parts of the skin and moistned both together doth very much ease the pain of the teeth being poured into that ear on which side the grief shall lie The liquor of Swines flesh being boyled doth very much help against the Buprestis The same is also a very good antidote against poyson and very much helpeth those which are troubled with the Gowt Cheese made of Cowes milk being very old so that it can scarce be eaten for tartness being in the liquor or decoction of Swines flesh which is old and salt and afterwards throughly tempered doth very much mollifie the stifness of the joynts being well applyed thereunto The Indians use to wash the wounds of the Elephants which they have taken first with hot water afterwards if they see them to be somewhat deep they anointed them with Butter then do they asswage the inflamation thereof by rubbing of Swines flesh upon them being hot and moist with the fresh bloud issuing from the same For the healing of the wounds of Elephants Butter is chiefly commended for it doth easily expell the iron lyrage hid therein but for the curing of the Ulcers there is nothing comparable to the flesh of Swine The bloud of Swine is moist and not very hot being in temper most like unto mans bloud therefore whosoever saith that the bloud of men is profitable for any disease
to Eurystheus whereat Eurystheus was so much afraid that he went and hid himself in a brazen vessell whereof Virgil speaketh thus Placarit sylvam Lernam tremefecerit arcu And of this Erymanthean Boar Martial speaketh Quantus erat Calydon aut Erymanthe tuus Of the Calydonian Boar there is this story in Homer When Oeneus the Prince of Aetolia sacrificed the first fruits of his Countrey to the Gods he forgot Diana wherewithal she was very angry and sent among the people a savage Boar which destroyed both the Countrey and Inhabitants against whom the Calydonians and Pleuronians went forth in hunting and first of all that wounded the wilde Beast was Meleager the son of Oeneus for reward whereof he received his head and his skin which he bestowed on Atalanta a Virgin of Arcadia with whom he was in love and which did accompany him in hunting wherewithal the sons of Thestius which were the Ulcles of Meleager were greatly offended for they were the brothers to his mother Althea those men lay in wait to destroy him whereof when he was advertised he killed some of them and put the residue to flight For which cause the Pleuronians made war against the Calydonians in the beginning of which war Meleager fell out with his Mother because she did not help her Countrey At last when the City was almost taken by the perswasion of his wife Cleopatra he went out to fight with his enemies where in valiant manner he slew many of them others he put to flight who in ther chase running away fell down upon steep rocks and perished Then Althea the mother of Meleager began to rage against her son and flung into the fire the torch which the Fates had given unto her to lengthen his dayes so when she saw her son was dead she repented and slew her self and afterwards was cast into the very self same burning fire with him In the hunting of this Boar Ancaeus the companion of Jason to Colchis was slain This Boar is also called a Meliagran and Atalantian Boar of whom Martial writeth thus Qui Diomedeis metuendus Setiger agris Aetola cecidit cuspide talis erat And again in another place Lacte mero pastum pigrae mihi mortis alumnum Ponat Aetolo de sue dives edat It is said that this Boar had teeth of a cubit long and the manner of his hunting was expressed in the pinnacle of the Temple of Tegea for which cause he is called the Tegean Boar. Upon the one side of the Boar against his middle were painted Atalanta Meleager Theseus Telamon Peleus Pollus and Iolaus the companion of all Hercules travails Prothus and Cometes the sons of Thiestius and brethren of Althea on the other side of the Boar stood Ancaeus wounded and Epochus sustaining his hunting spear next unto him stood Castor and Amphiaraus the son of Oicleus After them Hippothus the son of Cercion Agamedes the son of Stymphelus and lastly Pyrithous The teeth of this Boar were taken taken away by Augustus after the time that he had overcome Anthony which he hung up in the Temple of Bacchus standing in the Gardens of the Emperor And thus much for the Calidonian Boar. Now concerning the Mysian Boar I finde this story recorded of him When Adrastus the Phrygian who was of the Kings bloud had unawares killed his brother he fled to Sardis and after his expiation dwelt with Cresus It happened at that time that there was a wilde Boar came out of Olimpus and wasted a great part of the Countrey of Mysia the people oppressed with many losses and terrifyed with the presence of such a Beast besought the King to send his own Son Attys with much company to hunt and kill the Boar. The King was affraid thereof because in his dream he saw a vision his Son perishing by an iron spear yet at last he was perswaded and committed the safe-gard of his body to Adrastus When they came to the wilde Beast Adrastus bent his spear at the Boar and while he cast it to kill him the son of Cresus came betwixt them and so was slain with the spear according to the dream of his Father Adrastus seeing this misfortune that his hands which should have defended the young Prince had taken away his life fell into extreme passion and sorrow for the same and although the King knowing his innocency forgave him the fact yet he slew himself at the Funeral of Attys and so was burned with him in the same fire And thus much for the Mysian Boar. Now we will proceed to the particular story of the wilde Boar and first of all of the Countries breeding Boars The Spaniards say that in the new found world there are wilde Boares much lesse then ours which have tails so short that one would think they had been cut off they differ also in their feet for their hinder feet are not cloven but stand upon one claw and their forefeet are cloven like common Swines Their flesh also is more sweet and wholesome then common Swines flesh whereof Peter Martyr giveth reason in his Ocean Decads because they feed under Palm trees neer the Sea-shore and in Marshes Olaus Magnus writeth that in divers places of Scandinavia they hunt wilde Boars which are twelve foot long The wilde Boars of India according to Pliny have teeth which in their compass contain a Cubit and besides their teeth growing out of their chaps they have two horns on their head like Calves horns In the Islands Medera there are abundance of wilde Boars likewise in Helvetia and especially in those parts that joyn upon the Alpes where they would much more abound but that the Magistrates give liberty to every man to kill and destroy them There are no Boars in Africk except in Ethiopia where their Boars have all horns and of those it was that Lycotas the Country-man saw in a publick spectacle at Rome Et niveos lepores non sine cornibus apros that is Hares white like Swine and Boars that have horns It is a wonderful thing that there are no Boars in Creet and no lesse admirable that the Boars of Macedonia are dum and have no voice and thus much concerning the Countries of Boars Now concerning their Colour it is observed that wilde Boars for the most part are of a black and brown colour especially at the top of their hair and somewhat yellow underneath and yet Pausanias writeth that he hath seen Boars all white howbeit that is not ordinary Their bloud is sharp and black like black wine and such as will never be thick their eyes like to the eyes of wrathful beasts as Wolves and Lyons Their tuskes are most admirable for with them while they are alive they cut like sharp knives but when they are dead they have lost that cutting property the reason of it is in the heat of the tooth for it is certainly affirmed by Hunters of wilde Boars that when the Beast falleth first on
taken that the â—eet thereof are not cloven into two partslike Swine but rather into many like Dogs for upon the hinder feet there are five toes and upon the fore feet four whereof two are so small that they are scarce visible The breadth of that same skin was about seven fingers and the length of it two spans the shell or crust upon the back of it did not reach down unto the rump or tail but broke off as it were upon the hips some four fingers from the tail The Merchants as I have heard and Citizens of London keep of these with their Garden worms Of the AIOCHTOCHTH THere is another beast that may be compared to this whereof Cardanus writeth and he calleth the name of it Aiotochth It is a strange creature found in Hispania Nâ—va neer the River Alvaradus being not greater then a Cat having the bill or snowt of a Mallard the feet of a Hedge-hog and a very long neck It is covered all over with a shell like the trappings of a Horse divided as in a Lobster and not continued as in an Oyster and so covered herewith that neither the neck nor head appear plainly but only the ears and the Spaniards for this cause call it Arma 〈…〉 and Coâ—texto There be some do affirm that it hath a voice like a Swine but the feet thereof are not indeed so cloven that they remain unequal but are like to a Horses I mean the severall cloves There are of these as I have heard to be seen in Gardens in London which are kept to destroy the Garden worms Of the TIGER THE word Tigris is an Armenian word which signifieth both a swift Arrow and a great River and it should seem that the name of the River Tigris was therefore so called because of the swiftnesse thereof and it seemeth to be derived from the Hebrew word Gir and Griera which signifie a Dart. Munster also in his Dictionary of three languages doth interpret Tigros for a Tiger In the 4. of Job the word Laisk by the Septuagints is translated Mâ—rmeleon and by S. Jerom Tigris The Jewes call the same beast Phoradei which the Grecians call Tigris and all the people of Europe to whom this beast is a stranger call it after the Greek name as the Italians Tigre and Tigra the French Vn Tigre and the Germans Tigerthier Now concerning the name of the River Tigris which because it joyneth in affinity with this beast it is necessary that I should say something in this place because that we finde in holy Scripture that it is one of the four Rivers which runneth through Paradise which according to Josephuâ— maketh many compasses and windings in the world and at last saileth into the Red sea and they further say that there is no River of the world that runneth so swiftly as this And therefore Tigris vocatur id est Sagitta quod jaculum vel sagittam velocitate aequet That is it is called a Tiger a Dart or Arrow because it runneth as fast as an Arrow flyeth and for this cause we finde in Theâ—critus that a River in Sicilia was called Acis that is Spiculum a Dart. Some of the Poets do derive the name of the River Tigris from this Tiger the wilde beast where-upon these Histories are told They say that when Bacchus was distracted and put out of his wits by Juno as he wandered to and fro in the world he came to the River Sylax which was the first name of this water and being there desirous to pass over but found no means to accomplish it Jupiter in commiseration of his estate did send unto him a Tiger who did willingly take him upon his back and carry him over Afterward Bacohus called that swift River by the name of that swift beast Tiger Others do report the tale thus When Dionysius fell in love with the Nymph Alphesiboea whom by no means either by promises intreaties or rewards he could allure unto him at last he turned himself into a Tiger and so oppressing the Nymph through fear did carry her over that River and there begot upon her his son Medius who when he came to age remembring the fact of his father and mother called the name of the River Tigris because of his Fathers transformation But to leave this matter as not worth the standing upon whether the River was called after the name of the beast or the beast after the name of the River or rather both of them after the name of the dart or swift Arrow we will proceed to the natural story of the Tiger commending that to the Readers judgement which is essential to this story containing in it necessary learning and garnished with all probability First of all therefore Tigers like Lyons are bred in the East South and hot Countries because their generation desireth abundance of heat such as are in India and near the Red sea and the people called Asangae or Besingi which dwell beyond the River Ganges are much troubled and annoyed with Tigers Likewise the Prasians the Hyrcanians and the Armenians Apollonius with his companions travelling betwixt Hiphasis and Ganges saw many Tigers In Berigaza and Dachinabades which is beyond the Mediterranean Region of the East there are abundance of Tigers and all other wilde beasts as Arrianus writeth In Hispaniola Ciamba and Guanassa Peter Martyr saith by the relation of a Spaniard inhabiting there that there are many Lyons and Tigers The Indians say that a Tiger is bigger then the greatest Horse and that for strength and swiftnesâ— they excel all other beasts There be some which have taken them for Tigers which are called Thoes greater then Lyons and lesser then the Indian Tigers as it were twice so big as Lyons but I rather agree to the relation of Arrianus Strabo Megasthenes and Mearcus for they say thâ—t a Tiger feareth not an Elephant and that one of them hath been seen to fly upon the head of an Elephant and devour it and that among the Prastans when fâ—ur men led one of these Tigers tamed by the way they met with a Mule and that the Tiger took the Mule by the hinder leg drawing him after him in his teeth notwithstanding all the force of the Mule and his four leaders which is unto 〈◊〉 a sufficient argument not only of his strength but of his stature also and if any have been seen of lesser stature they have been mistaken either for the Linxes or for the Thoes The similitude of the body of this beast is like to a Lionesses for so is the face and the mouth the lower part of the fore-head and gnashing or grinning teeth and all kinde of creatures which are ravening are footed like a Cat their neck short and their skins full of spots not round like a Panthers nor yet divers coloured but altogether of one colour and square and sometimes long and therefore this beast and the Panther are of singular note among all the four-footed
any man do begin to follow after either of them it will be but labour lost for he is not able to comprehend or attain them with a Horse except he may take them being wearied by longitude of time But if any Hunters shall finde a young Calf spare the life thereof and shall not presently kill it he shall reap a double profit by it and first it doth bring profit to it self and doth induce or lead his Dam into captivity For after that the Hunter hath bound the Calf with a rope she being inflamed by the love or affection which she beareth to her Calf returneth back again unto it coveting with an ardent desire to loosen and take away her Calf out of the bond or halter therefore she thrusteth in her horn that she may loosen the cord and pluck her young one away whereby she is kept â—ast bound with her Calf her horns being intangled in the rope Then cometh the Hunter and killeth her and taketh forth her liver and also cuttech off her dugs or udder and doth likewise pluck off her skin and leaveth her flesh for the Birds and wilde Beasts to feed upon There is another kinde of Oxin Lybia whose horns do bend downward and for that cause they are â—â—in to seed going backwards Of the sayings of Herodotus and Aelianus I have spoken before Philes doth write that they are called Oxen going backward because the broadnesse of their horns doth cover their eye sight so that it standeth them in no use to go forward but is very commodious to go backward There is an Oxe which liveth in the Woods of Africk which doth resemble a domesticall Oxe yet lesse in stature of a brown or russet colour and also most swift of foot This beast is found in the deserts or in the Marches or limits of the deserts Their flesh is also of a perfect or absolute savour and taste good for the nourishment of men Of the Indian wilde OXEN THe horns of the Oxen of the Garamantons do grow downwards toward the earth and therefore when they feed they bow the hinder part of the neck as Solinus writeth and as we have spoken before in the diversities of wilde Oxen. The Woods also in India are filled with wilde Oxen. In the Province of India where the Gy 〈…〉 its inhabit are great multitudes of Oxen which live in the Forrests or Woods In the Kingdoms which are upon the borders or confines of India in the mid of the day are many fair and great Oxen which live in the Woods There are Mountains in the inmost Regions of India which are very hard to come unto where they say live those beasts wilde which are among us domesticall and tame as Sheep Goats Oxen and so forth The great King of India doth elect or choose a day every year for the runnings and combats of men and also fightings of Beasts who setting their horns one against another do fight irefully with admirable rage untill they overcome their adversaries They do also labour and strive with all their nerves and sinewes even as if they were Champions or fought for some great reward or should get honour by their battell Wilde Bulls tame Rams Asses with one horn Hyenaes and lastly Elephants as if they were capable of reason they wound them among themselves and the one doth oftentimes overcome and kill the other and sometimes fall down together being both wounded I have also recited before in another place of the intreaty of Oxen those Indian Oxen which are said to be most swift in their joynts in running to and fro when they are at combate because there we had not distinguished whether these were wilde Oxen or not but it doth appear in this place that they are wholly taken for wilde Oxen and the thing it self doth manifest that domesticall Oxen are not so swift nor so strong The Oxen in India have altogether whole hoofs and also but one horn Aethiopia also doth breed Indian Oxen that is to say Oxen that are like to those of India for some have but one horn and other some three Solinus saith that there are found in India some Oxen which have but one horn and othersome which have three horns with whole hoofs and not cloven The Indian Oxen are said to be as high as a Camel and their horn four foot broad Ptolemeus doth report that he saw a horn of an Indian Oxe which did hold in the breadth of it thirty gallons There are also Oxen which are bred in India which in greatnesse are no bigger then a Buck or Goat they do run yoaked together very swift nor do end their race with lesse speed then the Goat land Horses and I did not take them to be Oxen living in the Woods for our Rangifer and Oxen which live in the Woods are the swiftest of all beasts in this kinde and most apt to combats and runnings and they may partly be called Oxen having one horn and partly Oxen having three horns neither are they found in Scandinavia but also in other Regions and Dominions of Asia as we beleeve that Indian Oxen are of the same kinde Solinus doth not rightly call those Indian Oxen which Aelianus calleth Aethiopicos as I have declared above in the story of the Aethiopian Oxen for their horns are moveable Ctesias doth write that there are sprung up among the same beasts that beast which is called Mantichora which is manifested by Aristotle in his History of Four-footed beasts Hermolaus also and others have not considered this error Among the Arachotans there are Oxen which live in the Woods which do differ from those that are bred in the City as much as wilde Swine from tame Their colour is black bending a little downwards and their horns broad and upright There is a City in India called Arachotus taking the name from the River Arachotus which doth flow out of Causâ—ous what those beasts are which do bend their horns upward I have declared in the story of the Bison for as there may be spoken something concerning the difference of the Plants of the Woods so also concerning the beasts that are bred in the City and those that are bred in the Woods Of the WEASEL THere are divers kindes of Weasels but in this place we do intreat of the least kinde whose form and shape we have also here set down It is likewise properly named of the Latines Mustela a Weasel for so we were wont plainly to name those which were common and domesticall and to adde names to those which are more seldome seen or live in the Woods for difference sake The word Cholâ—d in Levit. 11. is translated a Weasel of all Interpreters The Rabbins do call them Chuldah and commonly Mustela as David Kimhi writeth The Chaldeans do translate it Chulda the Arabians Caldah the Persians Gurba and Hieron Mustela Oach is an Hebrew word where-upon it was once called Ochim plurally in Isai 13. Babylon subvertetur
feed upon little small and weak creatures but there are also wilde common Wolves who lie in wait to destroy their herds of Cattell and flocks of Sheep against whom the people of the Countrey do ordain generall huntings taking more care to destroy the young ones then the old that so the breeders and hope of continuance may be taken away And some also do keep of the Whelps alive shutting of them up close and taming them especially females who afterwards engender with Dogs whose Whelps are the most excellent keepers of flocks and the most enemies to Wolves of all other There be some have thought that Dogs and Wolves are one kinde namely that vulgar Dogs are tame Wolves and ravening Wolves are wilde Dogs But Scaliger hath learnedly consuted this opinion shewing that they are two distinct kindes not joyned together in nature nor in any natural action except by constraint for he saith that there are divers wild Dogs that are not Wolves and so have continued for many years in a hill called Mountfalcon altogether refusing the society and service of men yea sometimes killing and eating them and they have neither the face nor the voyce nor the stature nor the conditions of Wolves for in their greatest extremity of hunger they never set upon flocks of Sheep so that it is unreasonable to affirm that Wolves are wilde Dogs although it must needs be confessed that in outward proportion they are very like unto them Some have thought that Wolfs cannot bark but that is false as Albertus writeth upon his own knowledge the voyce of Wolfs is called Vlulatus howling according to these verses Ast Lupus ipse ululat frendet agrestis aper And again Per noctem resonare Lupis ululantibus urbes It should seem that the word Vlulatus which the Germans translate Heulen the French Hurler and we in English howling is derived either from imitation of the beasts voice or from a night whooping Bird called Vlula I will not contend but leave the Reader to either of both for it may be that it cometh from the Greek word Ololu zein which signifieth to mourn and howl after a lamenrable manner and so indeed Wolfs do never howl but when they are oppressed with famin And thus I leave the discourse of their voyce with the Annotation of Servius Vlulare Canum est Furiarum To howl is the voyce of Dogs and Furies Although there be great difference of colors in Wolfs as already I have shewed yet most commonly they are gray and hoary that is white mixed with other colours and therefore the Grecians in imitation thereof do call their twy-light which is betwixt day and night as it were participating of black and white Lycophos Wolf-light because the upper side of the Wolfs hair is brown and the neather part white It is said that the shaggy hair of a Wolf is full of vermin and worms and it may well be for it hath been proved that the skin of a Sheep which was killed by a Wolf breedeth worms The brains of a Wolf do decrease and increase with the Moon and their eyes are yellow black and very bright sending forth beams like fire and carrying in them apparent tokens of wrath and malice and for this cause it is said they see better in the night then in the day being herein unlike unto men that see better in the day then in the night for reason giveth light to their eyes and appetite to beasts and therefore of ancient time the Wolf was dedicated to the Sun for the quickness of his seeing sense and because he seeth far And such as is the quickness of his sense in seeing such also it is in smelling for it is reported that in time of hunger by the benefit of the winde he smelleth his prey a mile and a half or two mile off for their teeth they are called Charcharodontes that is sawed yet they are smooth sharp and unequal and therefore bite deep as we have shewed already for this cause the sharpest bits of Horses are called Lupata All beasts that are devourers of flesh do open their mouths wide that they may bite more strongly and especially the Wolf The neck of a Wolf standeth on a straight bone that cannot well bend therefore like the Hyaena when he would look backwards he must turn round about the same neck is short which argueth a treacherous nature It is said that if the heart of a Wolf be kept dry it rendreth a most fragrant or sweet smelling savour The liver of a Wolf is like to a Horses hoof and in the bladder there is called a certain stone call'd Syrites being in colour like Saffron or Hony yet inwardly contains certain weak shining stars this is not the stone called Syriacus or Indicus which is desired for the vertue of it against the stone in the bladder The fore-feet have five distinct toes and the hinder-feet but four because the fore-feet serve in stead of hands in Lions Dogs Wolfs and Panthers We have spoken already of their celerity in running and therefore they are not compared to Lions which go foot by foot but unto the swiftest Dogs It is said they will swim and go into the water two by two every one hanging upon anothers tail which they take in their mouths and therefore they are compared to the days of the year which do successively follow one another being therefore called Lucabas For by this successive swimming they are better strengthened against impression of the flouds and not lost in the waters by any over-flowing waves or billows Great is the voracity of this beast for they are so insatiable that they devour hair and bones with the flesh which they eat for which cause they render it whole again in their excrements and therefore they never grow fat It was well said of a learned man Lupus vorat potius quam comedit carnes pauco utitur potu That is A Wolf is said rather to raven then to eat his meat When they are hungry they rage much and although they be nourished tame yet can they not abide any man to look upon them while they eat when they are once satisfied they endure hunger a great time for their bellies standeth out their tongue swelleth their mouth is stopped for when they have drove away their hunger with abundance of meat they are unto men and beasts as meek as Lambs till they be hungry again neither are they moved to rapine though they go through a flock of sheep but in short time after their bellies and tongue are calling for more meat and then saith mine Author In antiquam figuram redit iterumque Lupus existit That is They return to their former conditions and become as ravening as before Neither ought this to seem strange unto any man for the like things are formerly reported of the Lion and it is said that Wolfs are most dangerous to be met with all towards the
and yet the same Beast appear meek and gentle unto them there they should take their wives When they came into the land of the Cleonians they met with a Wolf carrying a Lamb in his mouth whereupon they conceived that the meaning of Apollo was that when they met with a Wolf in that Countrey they might very happily and successively take them wives and so they did for they married with the daughters of Thesander Cleonymus a very honest man of that Countrey It is reported of Milo Crotoniata that valiant strong man how upon a season rending a tree in sunder in the woods one of his arms was taken in the closing of the tree and he had not strength enough to loose it again but remained there inclosed in most horrible torments until a Wolf came and devoured him The like story unto this is that which Aelianus reporteth of Gelon the Syracusan a Scholar unto whom there came a Wolf as he sat in the School writing on his Tables and took the writing tables out of his hand The Schoolmaster being inraged herewith and knowing himself to be a valiant man took hold of the same tables in the Wolfs mouth and the Wolf drew the Master and Scholars in hope of recovery of the tables out of the School into a plain field where suddenly he destroyed the Schoolmaster and a hundred Scholars sparing none but Gelon whose tables were a bait for that prey for he was not only not slain but preserved by the Wolf to the singular admiration of all the world whereby it was collected that that accident did not happen naturally but by the over-ruling hand of God Now for these occasions as also because that the wooll and skin of beasts killed by Wolves are good for nothing although the flesh of Sheep is more sweeter are unprofitable and good for nothing Men have been forced to invent and finde out many devises for the destroying of Wolfs for necessity hath taught men much learning and it had been a shameful misery to indure the tyranny of such spoiling beasts without labouring for resistance and revenge for this cause they propounded also a reward to such as killed VVolfs for by the law of Draco he that killed a young VVolf received a talent and that killed an old VVolf received two talents Solon prescribed that he that brought a VVolf alive should receive five pieces of money and he that brought one dead should receive two Apollo himself was called Lycoctonos a VVolf-killer because he taught the people how to put away VVolfs Horner calleth Apollo Lycegenes for that it is said immediately after he was born of his mother Latona he was changed into the shape of a VVolf and so nourished and for this cause there was the Image of a VVolf set up at Delphos before him Others say that the reason of that Image was because that when the Temple of Delphos was robbed and the treasure thereof hid in the ground while diligent inquisition was made after the theeves there came a VVolf and brought them to the place where the golden vessels were covered in the earth which she pulled out with her feet And some say that a VVolf did kill the sacrileger as he lay asleep on the Mountain Parnassus having all the treasure about him and that every day she came down to the gates of Delphos howling until some of the Citizens followed her into the Mountain where she shewed them the theef and the treasure both together But I list not to follow or stand upon these fables The true cause why Apollo was called a VVolf-killer was for that he was feigned to be a Shepheard or Herdsman and therefore in love of his Cattle to whom VVolfs were enemies he did not only kill them while he was alive but also they were offered unto him in sacrifice for VVolfs were sacred to Apollo Jupiter and Mars and therefore we read of Apollo Lycius or Lyceus to whom there were many Temples builded and of Jupiter Lyceus the sacrifices instituted unto him called Lycaea and games by the same name There were other holy-days call'd Lupercalia wherein barren women did chastise themselves naked because they bare no children hoping thereby to gain the fruitfulness of the womb whereof Ovid speaketh thus Excipe foecundae patienter verbera dextrae Jam socer optatum nomen habebit avi Propertius and some other writers seem to be of the minde that those were first instituted by Fabius Lupercus as appeareth by these verses Verbera pellitus seto samovebat arator Vnde licens Fabius sacra Lupercus habet And Juvenal thus Nec prodest agili palmas praebere Luperco Now concerning the manner of taking of VVolfs the Ancients have invented many devises and gins and first of all an Iron toil which they still fasten in the earth with Iron pins upon which pins they feave a ring being in compass about the bigness of a VVolfs head in the midst whereof they lay a piece of flesh and cover the Toil so that nothing is seen but the flesh when the Wolf cometh and taketh hold of the flesh feeling it stick pulling hard he pulleth up the ring which bringeth the whole Toil on his neck and sharp pins This is the first manner that Crescentiensis repeateth of taking VVolfs and he saith there are other devises to ensnare their feet which the Reader cannot understand except he saw them with his eyes The Italians call the nets wherein VVolfs are taken Tagliola Harpago Lo Rampino and Lycino the French Hauspied and Blondus affirmeth that the shepheards of Italy make a certain gin with a net wherein that part of the VVolf is taken which is first put into it Now the manner of taking VVolfs in ditches and pits is divers first of all they dig a deep ditch so as the VVolf being taken may not go out of it upon this pit they lay a hurdle and within upon the pillar they set a live Goose or Lamb when the VVolf windeth his prey or booty he cometh upon the trench and seeing it at a little hole which is left open on purpose to cast the VVolf into the deep ditch and some use to lay upon it a weak hurdle such as will not bear up either a man or a beast that so when the VVolf cometh upon it it may break and he fall down but the best devise in my opinion that ever was invented in this kinde is that the perch and hurdle may be so made and the bait so set that when one VVolf is fallen down it may rise again of it owne accord and stand as it did before to entrap another and great care must be had that these kinde of ditches may be made in solid and strong earth or if the place afford not that opportunity then must the inside be lined with boards to the intent that the beast by scraping and digging with his feet make no evasion The Rhatians use to raise up to a Tree a certain
infirmity but the Rhaetians among whom VVolves do abound do affirm constantly that in the beginning of May they bring their young out of their dens and lead them to the water sometimes seven and sometimes nine every year encreasing their number so that the first year she littereth one whelp the second year two the third year three and so observeth the same proportion unto nine after which time she groweth barren and never beareth more and it is said when she bringeth her young ones to the water she observeth their drinking very diligently for if any of them lap water like a Dog him she rejecteth as unworthy of her parentage but those which such their water like a Swine or bite at it like a Bear them she taketh to her and nourisheth very carefully VVe have said already that VVolves do engender not only among themselves but among other beasts and such are to be understood of them which bear their young an equal proportion of time as of Dogs and VVolves cometh the Lupus Canarius or Panther and the Crocuta Of the Hyaena and the Wolf come the Thoes of whom we shall speak in their due place in the end of this story and the Hyaena it self seemeth to be compounded of a Wolf and a Fox Concerning the natural disposition of this Beast we have already spoken in part and now we will adde that which doth remain and first of all their Epithets which are attributed unto them among several Authors are most clear demonstrations of their disposition as sowre wilde Apulian sharp fierce bold greedy whoar flesh-eater wary swift bloudy bloud-lovers degenerate hard glutton hungry Cattle-eater famishing furious yellow fasting ungentle unhonest untameful harmful Cattle-hurter teeth-gnasher insatiable treacherer martial sorrowful mountain nightly robber strate ravener mad snatcher cruel pack-bearer bloud-sucker foamer proud fearing sullen terrible vehement howling and such other like belonging to the male Wolf Now unto the female there are some peculiar ones also as inhumane ungentle martial obscure rank ravener sanded Romulian greasie terrible and Volscan and the ravening desire of this Wolf doth not only appear in the Proverbs of holy Scripture already repated as where Christ compareth the Hereticks to Wolves but also from hand instruments and sicknesses for a little hand-saw is called of the Latines and Germans Lupus a Wolf because of the inequality of the teeth wherewithal a man sheareth asunder violently any piece of wood bones or such like thing There is a disease called a Wolf because it consumeth and eateth up the flesh in the body next the sore and must every day be sed with fresh meat as Lambs Pigeons and such other things wherein is bloud or else it consumeth all the flesh of the body leaving not so much as the skin to cover the bones Also the galls on a mans seat which cometh by Horse-riding are by the Ancients called Lupi and by Martial Ficus whereof he made this distichon Stragula succincti venator sume veredi Nam solet à nudo surgere ficus equo There be also instruments called Lupi and Harpages or Harpagones wherewithall Ankers are loosed in the Sea or any thing taken out of the deep There is a certain territory in Ireland whereof Mr. Camden writeth that the Inhabitants which live till they be past fifty year old are foolishly reported to be turned into Wolves the true cause whereof he conjectureth to be because for the most part they are vexed with the disease called Lycanthropia which is a kinde of melancholy causing the persons so affected about the moneth of February to forsake their own dwelling or houses and to run out into the Woods or near the graves and sepulchres of men howling and barking like Dogs and Wolves The true signes of this disease are thus described by Marcellus those saith he which are thus affected have their faces pale their eyes dry and hollow looking drousily and cannot weep Their tongue as if it were all scabd being very rough neither can they spit and they are very thirsty having many ulcers breaking out of their bodies especially on their legs this disease some call Lycaon and men oppressed therewith Lycaones because that there was one Lycaon as it is faigned by the Poets who for his wickedness or sacrificing of a childe was by Jupiter turned into a Wolf being utterly distracted of humane understanding and that which Poets speak of him may very well agree with melancholy for thus writeth Ovid Territus ipse fugit nactusque silentia ruris Exululat frustraque loqui conatur And this is most strange that men thus diseased should desire the graves of the dead Like unto this is another disease called by Bellunensis Daemonium Leoninum which is saith he Confusio rationis cum factis malis noxiis iracundis à Leone dictum videtur malum quod eo detenti alios homines ledant Leonum instar in eos saviant that is the Lion-devil disease is a confusion of reason joyned with wrathful and impious facts and it seemeth to be named of Lions because that such as are oppressed therewith do rage against men and wound them like Lions There is a pretty Apology of a league that was made betwixt the Wolves and the Sheep whereupon came the word Lycophilios my Author rehearseth it thus Lupis agnis foedus aliquando fuit datis utrinque obsidibus Lupi suos catulos oves Canum cohortem dedere Quietis ovibus ac pascentibus Lupuli matrum desiderio ululatus edunt tum Lupi irruentes fidem foedusque solutum clamitant ovesque Canum praesidio destitutas laniant that is to say There was a peace made betwixt the Wolves and the Sheep either side giving hostages to other the Wolves gave their young whelps and the Sheep gave the Shepheards Dogs to the VVolves Now when the young VVolves were among the flock of Sheep they howled for their dams which when the old VVolves heard they came rushing in upon the Sheep crying out that they had broken the league and therefore they destroyed the Sheep in the absence of the Dogs that should keep them whereby is notably signified the simplicity of innocent men and the impiety of the wicked for whatsoever bonds of truce and peace are made with them they ever respect their own advantage taking any small occasion like VVolves at the crying of their young ones without all offence of the innocent and harmless to break through the brazen walls of truce peace and amity for the execution of their bloudy and ungodly mindes VVolves are truly said to be fierce and treacherous and not generous and bold and noble like Lions They especially rage in the time of their hunger and then they kill not so much as will suffice but all the flock before them but being satisfied as we have said already they seem rather Lambs then VVolves The male is always as careful of the young ones as the female for while she suckleth her young
English thus The cunning Atyr Serpents fierce of poyson did disarm And Water-snakes to deadly sleep by touching he did charm Alvisius Cadamustus in his description of the new World telleth an excellent history of a Ligurian young man being among the Negroes travelling in Africk whereby he endevoureth to prove how ordinary and familiar it is to them to take and charm Serpents according to the verse of the Poet Frigidus inpratis cantando rumpitur anguis That is The cold-earth-snake in Medows green By singing broke in pieces may be seen The young man being in Africk among the Negroes and lodged in the house of a Nephew to the Prince of Budoniel when he was taking himself to his rest suddenly awaked by the hearing the unwonted noise of the hissing of innumerable sorts of Serpents whereat while he wondred and being in some terror he heard his Host the Princes Nephew to make himself ready to go out of the doores for he had called up his servants to saddle his Camels the young man demanded of him the cause why he would go out of doores now so late in the dark night to whom he answered I am to go a little way but I will return again very speedily and so he went and with a charm quieted the Serpents and drove them all away returning again with greater speed then the Ligâ—â—ian young man his guess expected And when he had returned he asked his guess if he did not hear the immoderate hissing of the Serpents and he answered that he had heard them to his great terrour Then the Princes Nephew who was called Bisboror replyed saying they were Serpents which had beset the house and would have destroyed all their Cattel and Herds except he had gone forth to drive them away by a charm which was very common and ordinary in those parts wherein were abundance of very hurtful Serpents The Ligurian young man hearing him say so marvailed above measure and said that this thing was so rare and miraculous that scarsely Christians would believe it The Negro thought it as strange that the young man should be ignorant hereof and therefore told him that their Prince could work more strange things by a charm which he had and that this and such like were small vulgar and not to be accounted miraculous For when he is to use any strong poyson upon present necessity to put any man to death he putteth some venom upon a sword or other piece of Armor and then making a large round circle by his charm compelleth many Serpents to come within that circle he himself standing amongst them and observing the most venomous of them all so assembled which he thinketh to contain the strongest poyson killeth him and causeth the residue to depart away presently then out the dead Serpent he taketh away the poyson and mixeth it with the seed of a certain vulgar tree and therewithal anointeth his dart arrow or swords point whereby is caused present death if it give the body of a man but a very small wound even to the breaking of the skin or drawing of the bloud And the said Negro did earnestly perswade the young man to see an experiment hereof promising to shew all as he had related but the Ligurian being more willing to hear such things told then bold to attempt the trial told him that he was not willing to see any such experiment And by this it appeareth that all the Negroes are addicted to Incantations which never have any approbation from GOD except against Serpents which I cannot very easily be brought to believe And seeing I have entered into this passage of Charming being no doubt an invention of Man and therefore argueth his power to tame these venomous Beasts according to the former saying of Saint James although I condemn such courses utterly yet it is lawful to prosecute the same seeing the holy Ghost Psalm 58. vers 4 5. affirmeth a practise against Serpents a dexterity and ripeness in that practise and yet an impossibility to affect any good except the voyce of the Charmer come to the ear of the Adder For thus he writeth Their poyson is like the poyson of a Serpent like a deâ—f Aâ—der that stoppeth his ear 5. Which heareth not with the voyce of the Inchanter though he be most expert in cunning Upon which words Saint Augustine Saint Jerom and Cassidorus writing say that when the Charmer cometh to Inchant or Charm then they lay one of their ears to the earth so close as it may not receive the sound and their other ear they stop with their tail I will therefore yet add somewhat more of this taming of Serpent I have heard a Gentleman of singular learning and once my worshipful good friend and dayly encourager unto all good labours report divers times very credibly upon his own knowledge and eye-sight that being at Padua in Italy he saw a certain Quack-salver or Mountebanck upon a stage pull a Viper out of a box and suffered the said Viper to bite his flesh to the great admiration of all the beholders receiving thereby no danger at all Afterward he put off his doublet and shirt and shewed upon his right arm a very great unwonted blew vein standing beyond the common course of nature and he said that he was of the linage of Saint Paul and so were all other that had such veins and that therefore by special vertue to that Family given from above no Viper nor Serpent could ever annoy or poyson them but withall the fellow drank a certain compound water or antidote for fear of the worst and so at one time vented both his superstitious hypocrisie and also much of his Antidote to his great advantage It was an invention of ancient time among the wise Magitians to make a pipe of the skins of Cats legs and therewithall to drive away Serpents by which it appeareth that the soveraignty of Man over Serpents was given by GOD at the beginning and was not lost but continued after the fall of man although the hand that should rule be much weaker and practised by the most barbarous of the world necessity of the defence forcing a violence and hatred betwixt the Serpent and the Womans seed For this cause we read of the seaven daughters of Atlas whereof one was called Hyas whose daily exercise was hunting of venomous Beasts and from her the Hyades had her denomination And for a conclusion of this Argument I will adde this one story more out of Aelianus When Thonis the King of Egypt had received of Menelaus Helen to be safely kept whiles he travelled through Aethiopia it hapned that the King fell in love with her beauty oftentimes endevoured by violence to ravish her then it is also said that Helen to turn away the Kings unlawful lust opened all the matter to Polydamna the wife of Thonis who instantly fearing her own estate lest that in time to come fair Helen should deprive her of her husbands love
easily They cannot be said properly to have any neck yet something they have which in proportion answereth that part They have tails like all other creatures except Men and Apes and some say that their poyson is contained in their tails and is from thence conveyed into little bladders in their mouths therefore the Mountebanks or Juglers break that bladder that they may keep them without poyson but within the space of twenty four hours they are recollected and grow anew again Their bodies are covered over with a certain skin like a thin bark and upon Serpents it supplyeth the place that scales and hair do upon Beasts and fishes for indeed it is a pure skin and in most things they are like to Fishes except that they have lights and Fishes have none the reason is they live on the earth and the Fishes in the sea and therefore have fins and gills instead thereof The little Serpents have all their bones like thorns but the greater which stand in need of greater strength have solid bones for their firmitude and better constitution It is questionable whether they have any milt or no and some say they have at the time of their laying of egges and not otherwise Their place of conception or secret is large and standeth far out beginning beneath and so arising up to the back-bone double that is having one skin or enclosure on either side with a double passage wherein the egs are engendered which are not laid one by one but by heaps or clusters together They have no bladder to contain urine like to all other Creatures which have feathers scales or rinde-speckled skins except the Tortoises the reason is because of the exiguity and smallnesse of the assumed humour and also all the humour acquired is consumed into a loose and evaporate flesh And to conclude this Anatomy I will adde a short description which Gregorius Macer a Physitian wrote to Gesner 1558. by 〈…〉 is own dissection as followeth saying As I â—ay at rest in a green field there came unto me a great Serpent hissing and holding up her neck which I suddainly with a piece of wood amazed at a stroak and so slew without peril to my self Afterward sticking her fast to a pale I drew off her skin which was very fast and sharp and I found betwixt the skin and the flesh a certain little thin skin descending all upon the body with the outward skin and this was somewhat fat And when I came unto the place of excrements I found it like a Fishes but there issued forth certain filth farre exceeding in stinking savour the excrements of a man After I had thus pulled off the skin it was easie for me to look into the inward parts which I found to answer the inward Anatomy of fishes and Fowls in some parts and in other things there appeared a proper disposition to the Serpent it self For the Artery Trachea was about three or four fingers long turned about with little round circles and so descended to the lights unto which the heart and the bladder containing the gall did adhere or cleave fast Then the liver was long like the Fish Lucius and so a white caul or fatnesse covered both the liver and stomach which was half a span long The guts began at the chaps and so descended down to the place of excrements as we see they do in Fishes Beneath the liver were the guts upon either side descended a certain nervy or hard vein unto which the egs did cleave which were covered with such little skins as Hens egs are before they be layd but yet they were distinguished in seat or place because of their multitude for upon either side I found two and thirty egs The tongue of the Serpent was cloven and very sharp but there appeared not any poyson therein And so it is evident that in the vein Trachea heart and lights it agreeth with Birds in the liver guts and caul it resembleth a Fish but in the place of the gall and disposition of the egs it differeth from both And thus farre Macer with whose words I will conclude this Chapter of Serpents Anatomy Of the quantity of Serpents and their abode food and other accidents SO great is the quantity of Serpents and their long during age increaseth them to so great a stature that I am almost afraid to relate the same lest some suspicious and envious minded persons should utterly condemn it for fabulous but yet when I consider not only the plentiful testimonies of worthy and undoubted Antiquaries and also the evidence of all ages not excepting this wherein we live wherein are and have been shewed publiquely many Serpents and Serpents skins I receive warrant sufficient to express what they have observed and assured answer for all future Objections of ignorant incredulous and unexperienced Asses Wherefore as the life of Serpents is long so is the time of their growth and as their kindes be many as we shall manifest in the succeeding discourse so in their multitude some grow much greater and bigger then other Gellius writeth that when the Romans were in the Carthaginian war and Attilius Rogulus the Consul had pitched his Tents near unto the River Bragrada there was a Serpent of monstrous quantity which had been lodged within the compass of the Tents and therefore did cause to the whole Army exceeding great calamity untill by casting of stones with slings and many other devises they oppressed and slew that Serpent and afterward fleyed off the skin and sent it to Rome which was in length one hundred and twenty feet And although this seem to a beast of unmatchable stature yet Possidonius a Christian Writer relateth a story of another which was much greater for he writeth that he saw a Serpent dead of the length of an acre of Land and all the residue both of head and body were answerable in proportion for the bulk of his body was so great and lay so high that two Horsemen could not see one the other being at his two sides and the wideness of his mouth was so great that he could receive at one time within the compass thereof a Horse and a man on his back both together The scales of his coat or skin being every one like a large buckler or target So that now there is no such cause to wonder at the Serpent which is said to be killed by S. George which was as is reported so great that eight Oxen were but strength enough to draw him out of the City Silena There is a River called Rhyndacus near the Coasts of Bythinia wherein are Snakes of exceeding monstrous quantity for when through heat they are forced to take the water for their safegard against the Sun and birds come flying over the pool suddenly they raise their heads and upper parts out thereof and swallow them up The Serpents of Megalauna are said by Pausanias to be thirty cubits long and all their other parts answerable But
Fennel and Ivy and for this later both Pliny and Textor do not without great cause wonder that ever there was any honour ascribed or given to the Ivy seeing that Serpents the most unreconcileable enemies of man-kinde delight so much therein But herein the Devil blinded their reason as he did the modest women that worshipped Priapus or the Tartars which at this day worship the Devil to the end that he should do them no harm Thus much I can only say of the friends and lovers of Serpents by the multitude whereof we may conjecture how among other parts of the curse of God upon them they are held accursed both by man and Beast Now then it followeth that we enter into a more particular description or rather a relation of that hatred which is between them and other creatures and first I will begin with their arch enemy I mean Man-kinde For when GOD at the beginning did pronounce his sentence against the Serpent for deceiving our first Parents among other things he said I will put enmity betwixt thee and the Woman betwixt thy seed and the Womans seed Whereby he did signifie that perpetual war and unappeasable discord which should be for ever by his own appointment betwixt them And the truth hereof is to be seen at this day for by a kinde of secret instinct and natural motion a man abhorreth the sight of a Serpent and a Serpent the sight of a man And as by the tongue of the Serpent was wrought mans confusion so by the spittle of a mans tongue is wrought a Serpents astonishment For indeed such is the Ordinance of God that Men and Serpents should ever annoy and vex each other And this Erasmus saith shall continue as long as meminerimus illius inauspicati pomi we shall remember that unfortunate Apple Isidorus saith that Serpents are afraid of a man naked but will leap upon and devour a man clothed Which thing is also affirmed by Olaus Magnus for he saith that when he was a boy he often tryed it that when he was naked he found little or no resistance in Serpents and did safely without all danger combat with them hand to hand I my self also in my younger time when I was about ten or twelve years old used many times in the Spring and Summer time to wash my self with other my Colleagues in certain fish-ponds wherein I have seen and met with divers Water-snakes without all harm and I did never in my life hear of any harm they did to any of my fellows being naked neither did I ever see any of them run away so fast on the land as they did fly from us in the water and yet are not the Water-snakes less hurtful then the Land-adders And this was well known to many About the beginning or Fountain Springs of Euphrates it is said that there are certain Serpents which know strangers from the people of the Countrey wherefore they do no harm to the natural born Country-men but with strangers and men of other Countreys they fight with might and main And along the banks of Euphrates in Syria they also do the like saving that if they chance to be trode upon by any of the people of those parts they bite like as a Dog doth without any great harm but if any other forainer or stranger annoy them they also repay him with malice for they bite him and intolerably vex him wherefore the Countrey-men nourish them and do them no harm Such as these are also found in Tirinthus but they are very little ones and are thought to be engendered of the earth The first manifestation in nature of Mans discord with Serpents is their venom for as in a Serpent there is a venom which poysoneth a Man so in a Man there is the venom of his spittle which poysoneth a Serpent For if the fasting spittle of a Man fall into the jaws of a Serpent he certainly dyeth thereof And of this thus writeth the Poet Lucretius Est utique ut Serpens hominis quae tacta salivis Disperit ac sese mandendo conficit ipsa In English thus As Serpent dyeth when spittle of Man he tasteth Gnashing his teeth to eat himself he wasteth The cause of this the Philosophers which knew nothing of Adams fall or the forbidden Apple do assign to be in the contrariety betwixt the living souls or spirits of these Creatures for the Serpents life is cold and dry and the Humane life hot and moist wherefore either of both abhorreth one the other and the Serpent leapeth as far from a Mans spittle as it would do out of a vessel of scalding water Agatharsides writeth that there was a King in Africk called Psyllus whose Sepulchre was preserved in the greater Syrtes From this King there were certain people named Psyllians in whose bodies there was a certain inbred and natural power to kill or at the least to astonish Serpents Spiders Toads and such like and lay them for dead even by the savour or smell of them And the manner of these men to try the chastity of their Wives was to take their children newly born and to cast them unto direful Serpents for if they were of the right line and lawfully begotten then did the Serpents die before them but if they were adulterous and the children of strangers the Serpents would eat and devour them Pliny affirmeth that even in his days there were some of those people alive among the Nasamons who destroyed many of them and did possess their places yet some running from death escaped Generally such people were called Marsi and Psilli for the Marsi were a people of Italy descended of Circes as is said in whom there was a vertue to cure all the stinging of Serpents by touching the wounded places Such saith Crates Pergamenus are in Hellespont about the River Parius And some are of opinion that at the beginning they were Ophiogenes born or bred of Serpents or that some great Nobleman father of that Countrey was of a Serpent made a man And Vario saith that in his time there were some few men alive in whose spittle was found that vertue to resist and cure the poyson of venomous Beasts But having named Ophiogenes or Anguâ—genae that is Men bred of Serpents or Snakes I see no cause why it should be judged that those which cure Serpents poyson should be so misjudged for to cure poyson is not the work of poyson but of an Antidote or contrary power to poyson and therefore curers and resisters of poyson are without all learning called Ophiogenes that is Serpents brood but rather that term belongeth more justly to those people whose nature is sociable with Serpents and Serpents agree with them as they would do with their own kinde Such an one was Exagon the Embassadour of Rome who at the commandement of the Consuls for their experience was cast naked into a vessel or tun of Snakes who did him no harm but licked him with their
tongues and so with great miracle he was let forth again untouched and yet there is no more reason to say that this man was born of the linage of Serpents because those Men-enemies did not hurt him then it was to say that Daniel was born of Lions because that the Lions did not harm him Or that Romulus and Remus were born of the kindred of Wolfs because a she Wolf did nourish them We do read of many people in the World which were surnamed of Serpents all which may as well be deemed to be descended of such creatures because of their name as well as the other who were by GOD for their innocency preserved from death Ebusus was called Colubraxia and the people thereof Ophiussae and in Arabia we read of the Ophiades both which are derived from Serpents called in Greek Opheis Eustathius also relateth a story of a man called Ophis I omit to speak of the Ophitae and others yet thus much I must needs say that commonly such names have been given to Serpents for some cause or accident either faignedly or truly derived from Serpents So we read of Ophion a companion of Cadmus and a builder of Thebes who was said to be made by Pallas of a Dragons tooth Likewise the Spartanes were called Ophâ—odeiroi by Pythius because in a famine they were constrained to eat Serpents S. Augustine maketh mention of certain blasphemous Heretiques who were called Ophitae because they worshipped a Serpent and said that the Serpent which deceived our first Parents Adam and Evah was Christ Wherefore they kept a Serpent in a Cave whom they did nourish and worship which at the charm of the Priest would come out of his Cave and lick the Oblations which they set upon his Den rowling and folding himself round about them and then would go in again then did these abominable Hereticks break these oblations into the Eucharist and receive them as sanctified by the Serpent And such also is the story of Coelius Rhod. where he tearmeth the great Devil Ophioneus whom both holy Scripture and ancient Heathen say that he fell out of Heaven But all these things are but by the way upon occasion of that unnatural conceit of those men called Ophiogenes that is descended or begotten by Serpents Therefore I will return where I left namely to the hatred of Men to Serpents and of Serpents to Men again In testimony whereof there have been mutual slaughters namely Men which have killed monstrous Serpents and Serpents which have killed men again Hercules being but an Infant as Poets faign killed those two Serpents which Juno sent to his cradle to destroy him for Juno is said to be much offended at his birth because he was begotten by Jupiter upon Alomena and therefore there was reserved the Image of Hercules at Athens strangling a Serpent But Pierius maketh of this fiction a good moral or Hieroglyphick when he saith that by Hercules strangling of the Serpents in his cradle is understood how those men which are born for any great enterprises should kill their pleasures while they be young I need not to stand long upon this point for it is evident that to this day there are many Hyades both men and women which are not afraid to kill the Serpents brood But such as have perished by Serpents I mean men of any note are also expressed whereof Ovid writeth of Aelacos the son Priamus and Alixothoes who following the Nymph Hesperia with whom he was in love was suddenly killed by a Snake biting his foot So were Apaesantus Munitus Eurydice Laocoon Opheltes the son of Lycurgus King of Nemea Orestes Id 〈…〉 and Mopsus slain by Serpents whereof Opheltes by the negligence of his Nurse Hypsiphile leaving him ungarded in his cradle It is recorded by Aelianus and Pliny that when a Serpent hath killed a Man he can never more cover himself in the earth but in punishment of so vile an offence wandereth to and fro subject to infinite miseries and calamities being not acknowledged by his female if he be a male nor yet by the male if it be a female and is forsaken of all his crew or society The earth it self not daigning to entertain a man-murtherer into her bowels but constraining him to live Winter and Summer abroad upon the open earth And thus hath the Divine Providence dispensed his justice that he suffereth not murther of men to be unpunished among the greatest haters and enemies of men What monsters therefore are they which have Serpents in their delights and admire that in them which should be hated of all men And how base were those minded Grecians which worshipped the Serpent for a God Or the Athenians which kept a Serpent in their Temple for an opinion that the same did conserve their Tower or Castle from all enmity Jupiter was also worshipped in many places in the shape of a Serpent And the ancient Borussians worshipped a natural Serpent of the earth It is strange to consider the errour of the King of Calechut who doth as severely punish the slaughter of a Serpent as he doth the slaughter of a Man and not only restraineth his subjects from harming them but also buildeth for them little coats wherein they safely lodge in the Winter time And the cause of this errour is their conceit that they think Serpents are Divine powers dropped out of Heaven which they prove because when they sting fiercely they quickly kill and dispatch their enemy suddenly Wherefore they think that no creature can kill so speedily except an Angel of God Some of the Heathen had their Ophioâ—ephale Beasts with Serpents heads which they did worship for a God And the Poet Virgil hath an excellent description of Aeneas his sacrificing to the ghost of his Father Anchises Adytis tum lubricus anguis ab imis Septem ingens gyros septena volumina traxit Amplexus placide tumulum lapsusque per aras Caeruleae cui terga notae maculosus auro Squammam incendebat sulgor ceu nubibus arcus Mille trahit varios adverso sole colores Obstupuit visu Aeneas ille agmine longo Tandem inter pateras laevia pocula Serpens Libavitque dapes rursusque innoxius imo Successit tumulo depasta altaria liquit Which may be thus Englished Then from the hollow holes a sliding Snake appeared Which seaven ways did winde and turn and dead-mans tomb embrace Gliding along the Altar from and back with colour cleered By Sun-shine-light like spots of gold each varied to the face A thousand hiews whereat Aeneas marvelled but yet at last This Snake the holy dishes and smoothest cups of choice Did hast to touch like as it would the sacreds tast And so sunk down from Altar clean without both harm or noise And to make an end of this Section of the Antipathy betwixt Men and Serpents that whosoever is of the Womans seed may profess himself an enemy to the Serpent let him but consider how
a venemous creature yet is it an enemy to the Serpent for when she seeth a Serpent lie under her tree in the shadow she weaveth or twisteth a thred down from her web upon the head of the Serpent and suddenly biteth into his head a mortal wound so that he can do nothing but only roul to and fro being stricken with a Megrim whereby he hath not so much power as to break the Spiders thred hanging over his head untill he be dead and overthrown The Cockatrice is such an enemy to some kinde of Serpents that he killeth them with his breath or hissing The Lizard a kinde of Serpent is most friendly to man and very irefull against Serpents to the uttermost of his power whereof Erasmus in his book of Friendship telleth this story I saw saith he on a day a very great Lizard fighting with a Serpent in the very mouth of a Cave at the first sight whereof I marvailed at the matter for the Serpent was not visible out of the earth there was with me an Italian who said that surely the Lizard had some enemy within the Cave After a little while the Lizard came unto us and shewed us his side all wounded as it were craving help for the Serpent had bitten him sore for of green he made him appear red and this Lizard did suffer himself to be touched of us Thus saith Erasmus Again in the same place he saith that when a Lizard saw a Serpent lye in wait to set upon a man being asleep the Lizard ran to the man and never ceased running upon the mans face scratching his neck and face gently with his clawes untill he had awaked the man and so discovered to him his great danger The Locust also fighteth with a Serpent and killeth him when he lusteth for he getteth hold with his teeth upon his lower chap and so destroyeth him but this is not to be understood of every kinde of Locust but only of one kinde which for this cause is called Ophiomachum genus The Serpent is also an enemy to the Chamaeleon for in the extremity of famine she setteth upon them and except the Chamaeleon can cover herself from his rage he hath no defence but death Albertus calleth a certain Worm Spoliator colubri because as he saith it will take fast hold upon a Serpents neck underneath his jawes and never give over till he hath wearied and destroyed his adversary The Tortoises are enemies to Serpents and will fight with them but before they enter combat they arm themselves with wilde Marjoram or Penniroyall But there is not any thing in the world that fighteth more earnestly against Serpents then Sea-crabs and Crevises for when the Sun is in Cancer Serpents are naturally tormented with pains and feavers and therefore if Swine be stung or bitten with Serpents they cure themselves by eating of Sea-crabs There is a great water neer Ephesus at the one side whereof there is a Cave full of many noysome and irefull Serpents whose bitings by often probation have been very deadly both to men and beasts These Serpents do often times endevour to crawl over the pool now on the other side there are great store of Crabs who when they see the Serpents come crawling or swimming they instantly put out their crooked legs and as it were with tongs or pinsers reach at the sliding Serpent wherewithall the Serpents are so deterred that through their sight and often remembrance of their unhappy successe with them they turn back again and never dare any more adventure to the other side Where we may see the most wise providence of the Creator who hath set Sea-crabs the enemies of Serpents to guard both men and Cattell which are on the opposite side for otherwise the inhabitants would all perish or else be drove away from their dwellings To conclude not only living Creatures but also some kinde of earth and Plants are enemies to Serpents And therefore most famous are Ebusus and Creet as some say although Bellonius say that there are Scolopendraes Vipers and Slow-worms in Creet yet he saith they are without venom and there are very few in England and Scotland but none at all in Ireland neither will they live if they be brought in thither from any other Countrey This antipathy with Serpents proceedeth from living to dead and vegetable things as trees herbs and plants as may be seen by this discourse following There is such vertue in the Ash-tree that no Serpent will endure to come neer either the morning or evening shadow of it yea though very far distant from them they do so deadly hate it We set down nothing but that we have found true by experience If a great fire be made and the same fire encircled round with Ashen boughs and a Serpent put betwixt the fire and the Ashen boughs the Serpent will sooner run into the fire then come neer the Ashen boughs Thus saith Pliny Olaus Magnus saith that those Northern Countreys which have great store of Ash-trees do want venemous beasts of which opinion is also Pliny Callimachus saith there is a Tree growing in the land of Trachinia called Smilo to which if any Serpents do either come neer or touch they forthwith die Democritus is of opinion that any Serpent will die if you cast Oken-leaves upon him Pliny is of opinion that Alcibiadum which is a kinde of wilde Buglosse is of the same use and quality and further being chewed if it be spit upon any Serpent that it cannot possibly live In time of those solemn Feasts which the Athenians dedicated to the Goddesse Ceres their women did use to lay and strew their beds with the leaves of the Plant called Agnos because Serpents could not endure it and because they imagined it kept them chaste whereupon they thought the name was given it The herb called Rosemary is terrible to Serpents The Egyptians do give it out that Polydamna the wife of Thorris their King taking pity upon Helen caused her to be set on shore in the Island of Pharus and bestowed upon her an hearb whereof there was plenty that was a great enemy to Serpents whereof the Serpents having a feeling sense as they say and so readily known of them they straightwayes got them to their surking holes in the earth and Helen planted this herb who coming to the knowledge thereof she perceived that in his due time it bore a seed that was a great enemy to Serpents and thereupon was called Helenium as they that are skilfull in Plants affirm and it groweth plentifully in Pharus which is a little Isle against the mouth of Nilus joyned to Alexandria with a Bridge Rue called of some Herb of grace especially that which groweth in Lybia is but a back friend to Serpents for it is most dry and therefore causing Serpents soon to faint and lose their courage because as S 〈…〉 catus affirmeth it induceth a kinde of heavinesse or
escaped with life But of this more in our discourse of the Viper A certain man called Cissâ—s being very devout in the service and much addicted to the worship of the God called Serapis being treacherously wound in and intrapped by the crafty wiliness of a certain woman which first he loved and afterward marryed when by her means he had eaten some Serpents egges he was miserably vexed and torn and rent with disquiet and torment through all his body so that he seemed to be in great hazard of present death Whereupon forthwith repairing and praying heartily to this his God for his help and deliverance he received answer that he must go and buy a live Lamprey and thrust his hand into the vessel or place where it was kept and preserved which he forthwith did and the Lamprey caught fast hold on his hand biting hardly and holding fast by the teeth and at length when she was pulled from her fast hold the sickness and grievous torment of his body was plucked away and he freely delivered from that threatning danger Thus far Aelianus The Conclusion of this General Discourse of SERPENTS HAving thus discoursed of the medicinal qualities in Serpents and the remedies which Almighty GOD in nature hath provided against their venom now for a conclusion I will add some other natural uses of them and shut up all in Moralities and in sundry ways to take them There were certain Amazons as Pierius noteth that in their warlike preparations and Arms did use the skins of Serpents And to the intent that this may not seem strange the Tragladytes did â—at Serpents and Lyzards for they lived in Caves in stead of Houses and their voyce was not a significant voyce but a kinde of scrietching like gnashing And for these causes Serpents are very much afraid of any one of this Nation Likewise certain of the Candeans were called Ophiophagi that is Eaters of Serpents and one part of the people of Arabia eat Snakes But in India Ethiopia and an Island in the Ocean found out by Jambolus there are Serpents which are harmless and their flesh very sweet and pleasant to be eaten So are there in Macinum a Province of Asia In Manzi in the upper India and Caraia they sell the flesh of Serpents in open Markets These Serpents are called Juanae and the common people are forbidden to eat them because they are very delicate even as Pheasants Partridges and Peacocks are in France Yet is there but one way to dress them which is to roul them in Lard and so to seethe them For first they bowel them then wash them and fold them up together round putting them into a pot no bigger then to receive their quantity upon them they cast Pepper with water and so seethe them upon wood and coals that will not smoak With this Lard there is made a broth sweeter then any Nectar which they use in many banquets of great account But for the taking of Serpents I will yet add one or two more experiments wherein the Ancients revenged themselves upon these irreconcileable enemies of Mankinde They did use to set into the earth a deep pot whereinto all venomous creatures would gather and hide themselves then came they suddenly and stopped the mouth of that vessel whereby they inclosed all that were taken and so making a great fire cast the said pot of venomous Serpents into the same which consumed them all Otherwise they took a living Serpent and digged in the earth a deep Well or pit so sleep as nothing at the bottom could climbe up to the top thereof into this pit they would cast this Serpent and with her a brand of fire by means whereof the enclosed Serpent would fall a hissing for her life at the hearing whereof her fellows of the same kinde were thereby easily invited to come at her call to give her relief as we have shewed elsewhere who finding the noise in the bottom of the pit do slide down of their own accord whereby they likewise intrap themselves in the same pit of destruction But the Juglers or Quack-salvers take them by another course for they have a staffe slit at one end like a pair of tongs those stand open by a pin now when they see a Serpent Viper Adder or Snake they set them upon the neck neer the head and pulling forth the pin the Serpent is inevitably taken and by them loosed into a prepared vessel in which they keep her and give her meat It is reported that if a Serpent be strucken with a Reed she standeth still at the first blow as if she were astonished and so gathereth herself together but if she be so strucken the second or third time as one delivered from her astonishment and fear she recollecteth her wits and strength and slideth away The like observation unto this is that of the Ancients that a Serpent cannot be drawn out of her den by the right hand but by the left for they say if one lay hold on her tail by the right hand she will either slide farther into the earth from him or else suffer herself to be pulled in pieces never turning again and therefore saith mine Author Non cedit trahenti sed elabitur fugiens aut certe abrumpitur she yeeldeth not to him that draweth her but slideth away flying from him or else suffereth herself to be pulled in pieces in the combate The sundry Hieroglyphicks statues figures Images and other moral observations about Serpents are next here to be expressed which the Ancients in their Temples Shields Banners Theatres and publique places had erected for their honours and dignity And first of all in the Temple of Delphos near the Oracle there was placed the Serpent which provoked Apollo to fight with him wherein it was by him slain And the Hermopolitans did reserve the Image of Typhon in a Sea-horse whereupon sat fighting a Hawk and a Serpent by the Sea-horse they signified the Monster Typhon by the other beasts as namely the Hawk and the Serpent how by this principality and government which he had gotten by violence he troubled both himself and others Hercules had in his shield certain Serpents heads pictured with these verses Bis sena hic videas stridentibus effera flammis Colla venenato vultu maculosa draconum Tum magis offenso spirantia gutture virus Quam magis Alcides effuso sanguine pugnat Which may be Englished thus Of Dragons heads twise six here maist thou see Raging amongst the flames with poysoned spotted face Casting most venom forth when they enraged be As when Alcides saw his bloud distil apace And so Virgil saith of Aventinus Clypeoque imsigne parentum Centum angues cinctamque gerit Serpentibus Hydram That is to say His shield an hundred Snakes his Fathers crest An Hydra in their compass is entest Oscus which raigned among the Tyrrhenians gave in his Standard and Coat of Arms a Serpent Now the
fulfild And let it dry before Grashoppers green Thus made is good for Sinews cold Or nummed fingers whose force hath been By heat extending what cold band did hold The wounds that come by the biting or stinging of this Serpent are not great but very small and scarcely to be discerned outwardly yet the accidents that follow are like to those which ensue the bitings of Vipers namely inflamation and a lingering death The cure thereof must be the same which is applyed unto the sting of Vipers And peculiarly I finde not any medicine serving for the cure of this poyson alone except that which Pliny speaketh of namely Coriander drunk by the patient or laid to the sore It is reported by Galen and Grevinus that if a woman with childe do chance to go over one of these Double-headed Serpents dead she shall suffer abortment and yet that they may keep them in their pockets alive without danger in boxes The reason of this is given by Grevinus because of the vapour ascending from the dead Serpent by a secret antipathy against humane nature which suffocateth the childe in the mothers womb And thus much for this Serpent Of the DRAGON AMong all the kindes of Serpents there is none comparable to the Dragon or that affordeth and yeeldeth so much plentiful matter in History for the ample discovery of the nature thereof and therefore herein I must borrow more time from the residue then peradventure the Reader would be willing to spare from reading the particular stories of many other But such is the necessity hereof that I can omit nothing making to the purpose either for the nature or mortality of this Serpent therefore I will strive to make the description pleasant with variable history seeing I may not avoid the length hereof that so the sweetnesse of the one if my pen could so expresse it may countervail the tediousnesse of the other The Hebrews call it Thanin and Wolphius translateth Oach a Dragon in his Commentaries upon Nehemiah The Chaldees call it Darken and it seemeth that the Greek word Dracon is derived of the Chaldâ—â— We read of Albedisimon or Ahedysimon for a kinde of Dragon and also Alhatraf and Hauden Haren carnâ—m and such other terms that may be referred to this place The Grecians at this day call it Drakos the Germans Trach Lindtwarm the French Vn Dragon the Italians Drago and Dragone The derivation of the Greek word beside the conjecture afore expressed some think to be derived from Derkein because of their vigilant eye-sight and therefore it is faigned that they had the custody not only of the Golden-fleece but also of many other treasures And among other things Alciatus hath an emblem of their vigilancy standing by an unmarried Virgin Vera haec effigies innuptae est Palladis ejus Hic Draco qui dominae constitit ante pedes Cur Divae comes hoc animal custadia rerum Huic data sic lucos sâ—craque templa colit Innuptas opus est cura asservare puellas Pervigili laqueos undique tendit amor Which may be Englished thus This Dragon great which Lady Pallas stands before Is the true picture of unmarried Maids But why a consort to the Goddesse is this and more Then other beasts more meek who never fades Because the safegard of all things belong to this â—et Wherefore his house in Groves and sacred Temples Vnmarried Maids of guards must never misse Which watchful are to void loves snares and net For this cause the Egyptians did picture Serapis their God with three heads that is to say of a Lyon in the middle on the right hand a meek fawning Dog and on the left hand a ravening Wolf all which forms are joyned together by the winding body of a Dragon turning his head to the right hand of the God which three heads are interpreted to signifie three times that is to say by the Lyon the present time by the Wolf the time past and by the fawning Dog the time to come all which are guarded by the vigilancy of the Dragon For this cause also among the fixed Stars of the North there is one called Draco a Dragon all of them ending their course with the Sun and Moon and they are in this Sphear called by Astronomers the Intersections of the Circles the superior of these ascending is called the head of the Dragon and the inferior descending is called the tail of the Dragon And some think that GOD in the 38. of Job by the word Gneish meaneth this Sign or Constellation To conclude the ancient Romans as Vegetius writeth carryed in all their Bands the Escutchion of a Dragon to signifie their fortitude and vigilancy which were born up by certain men called for that purpose Draconarii And therefore when Constantius the Emperor entered into the City of Rome his souldiers are said to bear up upon the tops of their spears Dragons gaping with wide mouths and made fast with golden chains and pearl the winde whistling in their throats as if they had been alive threatning destruction and their tails hanging loose in the air were likewise by the winde tossed to and fro as though they strove to come off from the spears but when the winde was laid all their motion was ended whereupon the Poet saith Mansuescunt varii vento cessante Dracones In English thus When whistling winde in air ceast The Dragons tamed then did rest The tale also of the Golden-fleece if it be worth any place in this story deserveth to be inserted here as it is reported by Diodorus Siculus When Aetes reigned in Pontus he received an answer from the Oracle that he should then dye when strangers should come thither with ships and fetch away the Golden-fleece Upon which occasion he shewed himself to be of a cruel nature for he did not only make Proclamation that he would sacrifice all strangers which came within his Dominions but did also perform the same that by the fame and report of such cruelty he might terrifie all other Nations from having accesse unto that Temple Not contented herewith he raised a great strong wall round about the Temple wherein the Fleece was kept and caused a sure watch or guard to attend the same day and night of whom the Grecians tell many strange fables For they say there were Bulls breathing out fire and a Dragon warding the Temple and defending the Fleece but the truth is that these watchmen because of their strength were called Bulls because of their cruelty were said to breath out fire and because of their vigilancy cruelty strength and terror to be Dragons Some affirm again that in the Gardens of Hesperides in Lybia there were golden Apples which were kept by a terrible Dragon which Dragon was afterward slain by Hercules and the Apples taken away by him and so brought to Eurystheus Others affirm that Hesperides had certain flocks of sheep the colour of whose wooll was like gold and they were kept by a valiant shepheard
they kill thereby forthwith or else wound greatly with the same so that the strokes of his tail are more deadly then the biting of his teeth which caused Nicander to write thus Nec tamen illegraves ut caetera turba dolores Si velit infixo cum forte momorderit ore Suscitat exiguus non noxia vulnera punctus Qui ceu rodentes noctu quaeque obvia muris Infligit modicum tenuis dat plaga cruorem Which may be thus Englished Nor yet he when with his angry mouth Doth bite such pains and torments bringeth As other Serpents if Ancients tell the truth When with his teeth and spear he stingeth For as the holes which biting Mice do leave When in the night they light upon a prey So small are Dragons-bites which men receive And harmlesse wound makes bloud to run away Their mouth is small and by reason thereof they cannot open it wide to bite deep so as their biting maketh no great pain and those kinde of Dragons which do principally fight with Eagles are defended more with their tails then with their teeth but yet there are some other kinde of Dragons whose teeth are like the teeth of Bears biting deep and opening their mouth wide wherewithall they break bones and make many bruises in the body and the males of this kinde bite deeper then the females yet there followeth no great pain upon the wound The cure hereof is like to the cure for the biting of any other Beast wherein there is no venom and for this cause there must be nothing applyed thereunto which cureth venomous bitings but rather such things as are ordinary in the cure of every Ulcer The seed of grasse commonly called Hay-dust is prescribed against the biting of Dragons The Barble being rubbed upon the place where a Scorpion of the earth a Spider a Sea or Land-dragon biteth doth perfectly cure the same Also the head of a Dog or Dragon which hath bitten any one being cut off and flayed and applyed to the wound with a little Euphorbium is said to cure the wound speedily And if Alberdisimon be the same that is a Dragon then according to the opinion of Avicen the cure of it must be very present as in the cure of Ulcers And if Alhatraf and Haudem be of the kinde of Dragons then after their biting there follow great coldnesse and stupidity and the cure thereof must be the same means which is observed in cold poysons For which cause the wound or place bitten must be embrewed or washed with luke-warm Vinegar and emplaistered with the leaves of Bay anointed with the Oyl of herb Mary and the Oyl of Wilde-pellitory or such things as are drawn out of those Oyls wherein is the vertue of Nettles or Sea-onions But those things which are given unto the patient to drink must be the juyce of Bay-leaves in Vinegar or else equall portions of Myrrhe Pepper and Rew in Wine the powder or dust whereof must be the full weight of a golden groat or as we say a French Crown In the next place for the conclusion of the History of the Dragon we will take our farewell of him in the recital of his medicinal vertues which are briefly these that follow First the fat of a Dragon dryed in the Sun is good against creeping Ulcers and the same mingled with Honey and Oyl helpeth the dimnesse of the eyes at the beginning The head of a Dragon keepeth one from looking asquint and if it be set up at the gates and dores it hath been thought in ancient time to be very fortunate to the sincere worshippers of GOD. The eyes being kept till they be stale and afterwards beat into an Oyl with Honey made into Ointment keep any one that useth it from the terrour of night-visions and apparitions The fat of a Hart in the skin of a Roe bound with the nerves of a Hart unto the shoulder was thought to have a vertue to fore-shew the judgement of victories to come The first spindle by bearing of it procureth an easie passage for the pacification of higher powers His teeth bound unto the feet of a Roe with the nerves of a Hart have the same power But of all other there is no folly comparable to the composition which the Magitians draw out of a Dragon to make one invincible and that is this They take the head and tail of a Dragon with the hairs out of the fore-head of a Lyon and the marrow of a Lyon the spume or white mouth of a conquering Horse bound up in a Harts skin together with a claw of a Dog and fastned with the crosse nerves or sinew of a Hart or of a Roe they say that this hath as much power to make one invincible as hath any medicine or remedy whatsoever The fat of Dragons is of such vertue that it driveth away venomous beasts It is also reported that by the tongue or gall of a Dragon sod in Wine men are delivered from the spirits of the night called Incubi and Succubi or else Night-mares But above all other parts the use of their bloud is accounted most notable But whether the Cynnabaris be the same which is made of the bloud of the Dragons and Elephants collected from the earth when the Dragon and Elephant fall down dead together according as Pliny delivereth I will not here dispute seeing it is already done in the story of the Elephant neither will I write any more of this matter in this place but only refer the Reader unto that which he shall finde written thereof in the History of our former Book of Four-footed Beasts And if that satisfie him not let him read Langius in the first book of his Epistles and sixty five Epistle where that learned man doth abundantly satisfie all men concerning this question that are studious of the truth and not prone to contention And to conclude Andreas Balvacensis writeth that the Bloud-stone called the Haematite is made of the Dragons bloud and thus I will conclude the History of the Dragon with this story following out of Porphyrius concerning the good successe which hath been signified unto men and women either by the dreams or sight of Dragons Mammea the Mother of Alexander Severus the Emperor the night before his birth dreamed that she brought forth a little Dragon so also did Olympia the Mother of Alexander the Great and Pomponia the Mother of Scipio Africanus The like prodigy gave Augustus hope that he should be Emperor For when his Mother Aetia came in the night time unto the Temple of Apollo and had set down her bed or couch in the Temple among other Matrons suddenly she fell asleep and in her sleep she dreamed that a Dragon came to her and clasped about her body and so departed without doing her any harm Afterwards the print of a Dragon remained perpetually upon her belly so as she never durst any more be seen in any bath The Emperor Tiberius Caesar had a Dragon
which he daily fed with his own hands and nourished like good fortune at the last it happened that this Dragon was defaced with the biting of Emmets and thef ormer beauty of his body much obscured Wherefore the Emperor grew greatly amazed thereat and demanding a reason thereof of the Wisemen he was by them admonished to beware the insurrection of the common people And thus with these stories representing good and evill by the Dragon I will take my leave of this good and evill Serpent Of the DRYINE THere be some that confound this Serpent with the Water-snake and say it is none other then that which of ancient time was called Hydrus for so long as they live in the water they are called Hydri that is Snakes of the water but when once they come to the land they are called Chelidri and Chersydri but it is certain that the Chelidrus is different from the Chersydrus by the strong smell and savour which it carryeth with it wheresoever it goeth according to these verses made of Vmbo the Priest in Virgil. Viperio generi graviter spirantibus Hydris Spargere qui somnos cantuque manuque solebat Which may be Englished thus Who could by song and hand bring into deadly sleep All kinde of Vipers with Snakes smelling strong and deep Which being compared with that instruction which he giveth to Shepheards teaching them how to drive away the strong smelling Serpents from the folds he calleth them Chelydri when he writeth in this manner Disce odoratam stabulis accendere Cedrum Galbanioque agitare graves nidore Chelydros That is to say in English thus Learn how to drive away strong smelling Chelyders From folds by Galbanum and savoury Cedars So that it is clear that these Dryines are the same which are called Chelydri who do stink on the face of the earth whereby they are oftentimes disclosed although they be not seen howbeit some think that this filthy favour doth not proceed from any fume or smoak coming out of their bodies but rather from their motion according to the opinion of Macer in these following verses Seu terga expirant spumantia Virus Seu terra fumat qua teter labitur Anguis Which may be Englished in this manner Whether their foming backs that smell Do send abroad such poyson pestilent Or whether th' earth whereon this Snake full fell Doth slide yeelds that unwholesome sent It is said that these Dryines do live in the bottom or roots of Oaks where they make their nests for which cause they be called Quetculi as if they were derived from an Oak which caused the Countrey people to call it Dendrogailla which signifieth the male and female in this kinde being bred only in one part of Africk and in Hellespont and there be of them two kindes one of the length of two cubits being very fat and round and very sharp scales over the back and they are called Druinae of Dâ—us that signifieth an Oak because they live in bottom of Oaks and they are also called Chelydri because of their sharp skins or scales for it is the manner of the Latines and the Grecians to call the hard and rough skin of the body of man and beast by the name of Chelydra and I take the Serpents Cylmdri to be the same that the Dryines be Within the scales of this Serpent there are bred certain Flyes with yellow wings as yellow as any Brasse the which Flyes at length do eat and destroy the Serpent that breedeth them The colour of their back is blackish and not white as some have thought and the savour or smell coming from them like to the smell of a Horses hide wet as it cometh out of the pit to be shaven by the hand of a Tawyer or Glover And Bellonius writeth that he never saw any Serpent greater then this Dryine which he calleth Dendrozailla nor any that hisseth stronger for he affirmeth that one of these put into a sack was more then a strong Countreyman could carry two miles together without setting it down and resting And likewise he saith that he saw a skin of one of these stuffed with hair which did equall in quantity the leg of a great man The head of this beast is broad and flat and Olaus Magnus writeth that many times and in many places of the North about the beginning of Summer these Serpents are found in great companies under Oaks one of them being their head or Captain who is known by a white crest or comb on the top of his crown whom all the residue do follow as the Bees do their King and Captain And these by the relation of old men are thought to beget a certain stone by their mutable breathing upon some venomous matter found in the trees leaves or earth where they abide For they abide not only in the roots but in the hollow bodies of the trees and sometimes for their meat and food they leave their habitation and descend into the Fens and Marishes to hunt Frogs and if at any time they be assaulted with the Horse-flie they instantly return back again into their former habitation When they go upon the earth they go directly or straight for if they should winde themselves to run they would make an offensive noise or rather yeeld a more offensive smell according to these verses of the Poet Lucan Natrix ambiguae ooleret qui Syrtidos arva Chersidros tractique via fumante Chelydri In English thus The Snake which hant the doubtful Syrtes sands And Chelyders by sliding fume on lands Georgius Fabricius writeth that he saw in the Temple of Bacchus at Rome a company of drunken men dancing leading a male Goat for sacrifice having Snakes in their mouths which Snakes Prudentius the Christian poet calleth Chlydri that is Dryines in these verses following Baccho caper omnibus aris Caeditur virides discindunt ore Chelydros Qui Bromium placare volunt quod ebria jam tum Ante oculos regis Satyrorum insania fecit In English thus A Goat to Bacchus on every altar lies While sacrificers tear Dryines in pieces small By force of teeth and that before the eyes Of Satyres King mad drunk they fall The nature of this Serpent is very venomous and hot and therefore it is worthily placed among the first degree or rank of Serpents for the smell thereof doth so stupifie a man as it doth near strangle him for nature refuseth to breath rather then to draw in such a filthy air And so pestilent is the nature of this Beast that it maketh the skin of the body of a man hurt by it loose stinking and rotten the eyes to be blinde and full of pain it restraineth the urine and if it come upon a man sleeping it causeth often neezing and maketh to vomit bloudy matter If a man tread upon it unawares although it neither sting nor bite him yet it causeth his legs to swell and his foot to lose the skin
men and therefore speaking to the Frogs he citeth these verses Vos quoque signa videtis aquai dulcis alumnae Cum clamore paratis inanes fundere voces Absurdoque sono fontes stagna cietis In English thus And you O Water-birds which dwell in streams so sweet Do see the signes whereby the weather is foretold Your crying voyces wherewith the waters are repleat Vain sounds absurdly moving ools and Fountains cold And thus much for the natural use of Frogs Now followeth the Magical It is said that if a man take the tongue of a Water-frog and lay it upon the head of one that is asleep he shall speak in his sleep and reveal the secrets of his heart but if he will know the secrets of a woman then must he cut it out of the Frog alive and turn the Frog away again making certain characters upon the Frogs tongue and so lay the same upon the panting of a womans heart and let him ask her what questions he will she shall answer unto him all the truth and reveal all the secret faults that ever she hath committed Now if this magical foolery were true we had more need of Frogs then of Jâ—stices of Peace or Magistrates in the Common-wealth But to proceed a little further and to detect the vanity of these men they also say that the staffe wherewithal a Frog is struck out of a Snakes mouth laid upon a woman in travail shall cause an easie deliverance and if a Man cut off a foot of a Frog as he swims in the water and binde the same to one that hath the Gout it will cure him And this is as true as a shoulder of Mutton worn in ones Hat healeth the Tooth-ach Some again do write that if a woman take a Frog and spit three times in her mouth she shall not conceive with childe that year Also if Dogs eat the pottage wherein a Frog hath been sod it maketh him dum and cannot bark And if a Man cast a sod Frog at a Dog which is ready to assault him it will make him run away I think as fast as an old hungry Horse from a bottle of Hay These and such like vanities have the ancient Heathens ignorant of GOD firmly believed till either experience disapproved their inventions or the sincere knowledge of Religion inlightning their darknesse made them to forsake their former vain errors which I would to GOD had come sooner unto them that so they might never have sinned or else being now come unto us their children I pray GOD that it may never be removed lest by trusting in lying vanities we forsake our own mercy And so an end of the Magical Uses Now we proceed to the Medicinal in the biting of every venomous creature Frogs sod or roasted are profitable especially the broth if it be given to the sick person without his knowledge mixed with Oyl and Salt as we have said already The flesh of Water frogs is good against the biting of the Sea-hare the Scorpion and all kinde of Serpents against Leprosie and scabs and rubbed upon the body it doth cure the same The broath taken into the body with roots of Sea-holm expelleth the Salamander so also the Egges of the Frog and the Egges of the Tortoise hath the same operation being sod with Calaminth The little Frogs are an antidote against the Toads and great Frogs Albertus also among other remedies prescribeth a Frog to be given to sick Faulkons or Hawks It is also good for cricks in the neck or the Cramp The same sod with Oyl easeth the pains and hardnesse of the joynts and sinews they are likewise given against an old Cough and with old Wine and sod Corn drunk out of the Vessel wherein they are sod they are profitable against the Dropsie but with the sharpest Vinegar Oyl and spume of Niter sod together by rubbing and anointing cureth all scabs in Horses and pestilent tumors There is an Oyl likewise made out of Frogs which is made in this manner they take a pound of Frogs and put them into a vessel or glasse and upon them they pour a pinte of Oyl so stopping the mouth of the glasse they seethe it as they do the Oyl of Serpents with this they cure the shrinking of the sinews and the hot Gout they provoke sleep and heal the inflammations in Fevers by anointing the Temples The effect of this Oyl is thus described by Serâ—nus Saepe ita per vadit vis frigoris ac tenet artus Vt vix quasito medicamine pulsa recedat Si renam ex â—leo decoxeris abjice carnâ—m Membra fove That is to say Often are the sinews held by force invading cold Which scarse can be repelled back by medicines tried might Then scethe a Frog in purest Oyl as Ancients us have told So bathe the members sick therein Frogs flesh cast out of sight And again in another place he speaking of the cure of the Fever writeth thus Sed prius est oleo partus fervescere Ranae In triviis illâ—que artus perducere succo In English thus But first let Oyl make hot young Frogs new found In ways therewith bring sinews weak to weal full sound To conclude it were infinite and needlesse to expresse all that the Physitians have observed about the Medicines rising out of the bloud fat flesh eyes heart liver gall intrails legs and sperm of Frogs besides powders and distillations therefore I will not weary the Reader nor give occasion to ignorant men to be more bold upon my writing of Physick then is reason lest that be said against me which proverbially is said of unnecessary things Ranis vinum ministras you give Wine to Frogs which have neither need nor nature to drink it for they delight more in water And so I conclude the History of this vulgar Frog Of the GREEN FROG THis Frog is called Calamites and Dryophytes and Manâ—is and Rana virens In Arabia bâ—eâ—haricon and Cucunoines and Cucumones Irici Ranulae Brexantes of Brexâ—ein to rain and thereof cometh the faigned word of Aristophanes Brekekekex Koax but I think that as our English word Frog is derived from the German word Frosch so the Germans Frosch from the Greek word Brex It is called also Zamia that is Damnum losse hurt or damage because they live in trees and many times harm Men and Cattle underneath the trees and therefore called Zamiae of the Greek word Zen 〈…〉 The Italians call it Racula Ranocchia Lo Ronovoto Ra 〈…〉 onchia de rubetto The French Croissetz and some-times Graisset Verdier in Savöy Renogle In Germany Louâ—srosch In Poland Zaba Tâ—awna Some of the Latines for difference sake call it Rana Rubeta because it liveth in trees and bushes and for the same cause it is called Calamites because it liveth among reeds and Dryopetes because it selleth some-times out of trees It is a venomous Beast for sometimes Cattle as they brouse upon trees do swallow down one of these upon the
thereof And thus much for the Hydra whether it be true or fabulous Of innocent SERPENTS I Doe read of two kindes of innocent Serpents one called Lybies because they are only in Africk and never do hurt unto men and therefore Nicander was deceived which maketh this kinde of Serpent to be the same with the Amâ—dyte whose sting or teeth are very mortall and deadly There be also other kindes of harmlesse Serpents as that called Molurus Mustaca and Mylacris which is said to go upon the tail and it hath no notable property except that one thing which giveth it the name for Molurus is derived from Molis Ourâ—n that is hardly making water There be also domesticall innocent Serpents Myagrus Orophia and Spathiurus which whether they be one kinde or many I will not stand upon for they are all termed by the Germans Hussunck and Husschlang that is a House-snake They live by hunting of Mice and Weasels and upon their heads they have two little ears like to the ears of a Mouse and because they be as black as coals the Italians call them Serpe nero and Carbon and Garabonazzo and the French-men Anguille de Hay that is a Snake of hedges There be some that nourish them in Glasses with branne and when they are at liberty they live in Dung-hills also wherein they breed sometimes they have been seen to suck a Cow for then they twist their tails about the Cowes legs Matthiolus writeth that the flesh of this Snake when the head tail intrails fat and gall are cut off and cast away to be a speciall remedy a-against the French-pox There are are also other kindes of Innocent Serpents as that called Parea and in Italy Baron and Pagerina which are brought out of the East where these are bred There be no other harmfull Serpents in that Countrey They are of a yellow colour like Gold and about four spans long upon either side they have two lines or strakes which begin about a hand breadth from their neck and end at their tail They are without poyson as may appear by the report of Gesner for he did see a man hold the head alive in his hand And thus much shall suffice to have spoken of Innocent Serpents Of the LIZARD ALthough there be many kinds of Lizards yet in this place I will intreat first of the vulgar Lizard called in the Hebrew Letaah Lanigermâ—sha Lyserda Carbo Pelipah and Eglose the Chaldeans Haltetha and Humeta the Arabians Ataia Albathaie or Albadaie Hardun Atab Samabras Saambras the Grecians in ancient time Sauros and Saura and vulgarly at this day Kolisaura the Italians in some places Liguro â—â—eguro Lucerta and Lucertula about Trent Racani and Ramarri and yet Remarro is also used for a Toad the Spaniards Lagarto Lacerta Lagartisa and Lagardixa the French Lisarde the Germans Adax and when they distinguish the male from the female they expresse the male Ein Egochs and the female Egles in Hessia Lydetstch in Flanders and Illyria Gessierka and Gesstier the Latines Lacertus and Lacerta because it hath arms and shoulders like a man and for this cause also the Salamander the Stellion the Crocodile and Scorpions are also called sometimes Lacerti Lizards And thus much shall suffice for the name The vulgar Lizard is described on this sort the skin is hard and full of scales according to this saying of Virgil Absint picti squalentia terga Lacerti In English thus Those put away And painted Lizards with their scalie backs The colour of it is pale and distinguished with certain rusty spots as Pliny writeth with long strakes or lines to the tail but generally they are of many colours but the green with the white belly living in bushes bedges and is the most beautifull and most respected and of this we shall peculiarly intreat hereafter There have been some Lizards taken in the beginning of September whose colour was like Brasse yet dark and dusky and their belly partly white and partly of an earthy colour but upon either side they had certain little pricks or spots like printed Scarres their length was not past four fingers their eyes looked backward and the holes and passages of their ears were round the fingers of their feet were very small being five in number both before and behind with small nails and behind that was the longest which standeth in the place of a mans fore-finger and one of them standeth different from the other as the thumb doth upon a mans hand but on the forefeet all of them stand equall not one behinde or before another These little Lizards do differ from the Stellions in this that they have bloud in their veins and they are covered with a hard skin winking with the upper eye-lid All manner of Lizards have a cloven tongue and the top thereof is somewhat hairy or at the least wise divided like the fashion and figure of hair Their teeth are also as small as hair being black and very sharp and it seemeth also they are very weak because when they bite they leave them in the wound Their lungs are small and dry yet apt to swell and receive windâ— by inflamation their belly is uniform and simple their intrails long their Milt round round and small and their stones cleave inwardly to their loyns their tail is like the tail of a Serpent and it is the opinion of Aristotle that the same being cut off groweth again The reason whereof is given by Cardan because imperfect creatures are full of moystnesse and therefore the parts cut off do easily grow again And Pliny reporteth that in his dayes he saw Lizards with double tails whereunto Americus Vespusius agreeth for he saith that he saw in a certain Island not far from Lisbon a Lizard with a double tail They have four feet two behinde and two before and the former feet bend backward and the hinder feet forward like to the knees of a man Now concerning the different kinds of Lizards I must speak as briefly as I can in this place wherein I shall comprehend both the Countreys wherein they breed and also their severall kinds with some other accidents necessary to be known There is a kinde of Lizard called Guarell or Vâ—ell and Alguarill with the dung whereof the Physitians do cure little pimples and spots in the face and yet Belâ—unensis maketh a question whether this be to be referred to the Lizards or not because Lizards are not found but in the Countrey out of Cities and these are found every where There is also another kinde of Lizard called Lacertus Martensis which being salted with the head and purple Wooll Oyl of Cedar and the powder of burnt Paper so put into a linnen cloth and rubbed upon a bald place do cause the hair that is fallen off to come again There be other Lizards called by the Grecians Arurae and by the Latines Lacertae Pâ—ssininae which continually abide in green corn these burned to powder and the same
and upon the ridge of his back all along to the tail and underneath upon the rine or brim of his belly are certain hairs growing or at the least thin small things like hairs the tail being shut up in one undivided fine Of this kind no doubt are those which Bellonius saith he saw by the lake Abydus which live in the waters and come not to the land but for sleep for he affirmeth that they are like land Serpents but in their colour they are red spotted with some small and dusky spots Gillius also saith that among the multitude of Sea Serpents some are like Congers and I cannot tell whether that of Virgil be of this kinde or not spoken of by Laocoon the Priest of Neptune Solennes taurum ingentem mactabat adaras Ecce autem gemini à Tenedo tranquilli per alta Horreico referens immensis orbibus angues Incumbunt peiago pariterque adlittora tendunt Pectora quorum inter fluctus arrecta jubaeque Sanguineae exuperant andas pars caetera pontum Pone legit sinuatque immensa volumine terga Fit sonitus spurnante salo c. Which may be Englished thus 〈◊〉 be a Bull at Alâ—ars solemn sacrifice 〈◊〉 I fear to tell two monstrom Snakes appeared Out of Tenedus shore both calm and deep did rise One pâ—â—t in Sea the other on Land was reared Their 〈◊〉 and red bloud manes on waters mounted But back and tail on Land from foaming Sea thus sounded Of the SALAMANDER I Will not contrary their opinion which reckon the Salamander among the kindes of Lizards but leave the assertion as somewhat tolerable yet they are not to be followed or to be believed which would make it a kinde of Worm for there is not in that opinion either reason or resemblance What this Beast is called among the Hebrews I cannot learn and therefore I judge that the Jews like many other Nations did not acknowledge that there was any such kinde of creature for ignorance bringeth infidelity in strange things and propositions The Grecians call it Salamandra which word or term is retained almost in all languages especially in the Latine and therefore Isidore had more boldnesse and wit then reason to derive the Latine Salamandra quasi Valincendram resisting burning for being a Greek word it needeth not a Latine notation The Arabians call it Saambras and Samabras which may well be thought to be derived or rather corrupted from the former word Salamandra or else from the Hebrew word Semamit which signifieth a Stellion Among the Italians and Rhaetians it retaineth the Latine word and sometimes in Rhaetia it is called Rosada In the Dukedom of Savoy Pluvina In France Sourd Blande Albrenne and Arrassade according to the divers Provinces in that Kingdom In Spain it is called Salamamegua In Germany it is called by divers names as Maall and Punter maall Olm Moll and Molch because of a kinde of liquor in it like milk as the Greek word Molge from amelgein to suck milk Some in the Countrey of Helvetia do call it Quatiertesh And in Albertus it is likewise called Rimatrix And thus much may suffice for the name thereof The description of their several parts followeth which as Avioâ—n and other Authors write is very like small and vulgar Lizard except in their quantity which is greater their legs taller and their tail longer They are also thicker and fuller then a Lizard having a pale white belly and one part of their skin exceeding black the other yellow like Verdigrease both of them very splendent and glistering with a black line going all along their back having upon it many little spots like eyes And from hence it cometh to be called a Stellion or Animal stellatum a creature full of stars and the skin is rough and bald especially upon the back where those spots are out of which as writeth the Scholiast issueth a certain liquor or humor which quencheth the heat of the fire when it is in the same This Salamander is also four-footed like a Lizard and all the body over it is set with spots of black and yellow yet is the sight of it abominable and fearful to man The head of it is great and some-times they have yellowish bellies and tails and sometimes earthy It is some question among the learned whether there be any discretion of sex as whether there be in this kinde a male and a female Pliny affirmeth that they never engender and that there is not among them either male or female no more then there are among Eeles But this thing is justly crossed both by Bellonius and Agricola for they affirm upon their own knowledge that the Salamander engendereth her young ones in her belly like unto the Viper but first conceiveth egs and she bringeth forth forty and fifty at a time which are fully perfected in her womb and are able to run or go so soon as ever they be littered and therefore there must be among them both male and female The Countries wherein are found Salamanders are the Region about Trent and in the Alpes and sometime also in Germany They most commonly frequent the coldest and moistest places as in the shadow of Woods in hedges neer Fountains and Rivers and sometimes they are found among Corn and Thorns and among Rocks They are seldom seen except it be either in the Spring-time or against rain and for this cause it is called Animal vernale and Pluviosum a Spring or rainy creature And yet there were many of them found together in a hole neer unto the City Sneberg in Germany in the month of February for they love to live in flocks and troups together and at another time in November a living Salamander was found in a Fountain How beit if at any time it be seen forraging out of his den or lodging place it is held for an assured presage of rain But if the Spring-time fortune to be cold or frosty then they keep home and go not visibly abroad Some do affirm that it is as cold as Ice and that it therefore quencheth heat or fire like a piece of Ice which if it be true then is the old Philosophical Maxime utterly false namely that all living creatures are hot and moist being compared to creatures without life and sense for there is not any dead or senselesse body that so quencheth fire as Ice doth But the truth is that the Salamander is cold and colder then any Serpent yet not without his natural heat which being compared to Armans may truly be said to be hot and therefore the venom of the Salamander is reckoned among Septicks or corroding things It naturally loveth milk and therefore sometimes in the Woods or neer hedges it sucketh a Cow that is laid but afterwards that Cows udder or stock dryeth up and never more yeeldeth any milk It also greatly loveth the Honey-combe and some Authors have affirmed that they use to gape after air or fresh breath like the Chamaeleon yet
that in Italy in his dayes there was a man that had a Scorpion bred in his brain by continuall smelling to this herb Basill and Gesner by relation of an Apothecary in France writeth likewise a story of a young maid who by smelling to Basill fell into an exceeding head-ache whereof she dyed without cure and after her death being opened there were found little Scorpions in her brain Aristotle remembreth an herb which he calleth Sissimbria out of which putrefied Scorpions are engendred as he writeth And we have shewed already in the history of the Crocodile that out of the Crocodiles egges do many times come Scorpions which at their first egression do kill their Dam that hatched them which caused Archelaus which wrote Epigrams of wonders unto Ptolemaeus to sing of Scorpions in this manner In vos dissolvit morte redigit Crocâ—dilum Natura extinctum Scorpii omnipotens Which may be Englished thus To you by Scorpions death the omnipotent Ruines the Crocodil in natures life extinct And thus much for the generation of Scorpions out of putrefaction Now we will proceed to the second manner of their generation which is by propagation of seed for although Ponzettus make some question about their copulation yet he himself inclineth to that opinion as neerer unto truth which attributeth carnall copulation unto them and therefore he alledgeth the example of flies which admit copulation although they engender not thereby Wherefore we will take it for granted that Scorpions lay egges after copulation which hapneth both in the Spring and Autumne And these are for the most part in number eleven upon which they sit and hatch their young ones and when once they are perfected within those egges which are in sight like the little worms out of which Spyders are engendred then do they break their egges and drive the young out For as Isidorus writeth otherwise the old should be destroyed of the young even as are the Crocodiles Some again say that the old Scorpions do devour their young ones Being thus produced by generation they live upon the earth and those which are bred of the Sea-crab do feed upon the foam of the Sea-water and a continuall white mould or chalk neer the Sea But the Scorpions of Aethiopia do eat all kinde of worms flyes and small Serpents Yea those Serpents whose very dung being troden upon by man bringeth exulcerations And a tryall that Scorpions eat flies was made by Wolphius at Montpelier for having a young one in a boxe for one whole moneth together it lived upon flies and grew by the devouring of them bigger being put into the Glasse unto him They live among tiles and bricks very willingly and for this cause they abound in Rome in the hill called Testaceus They are also in Bononia found in the walls of old houses betwixt the stones and the morter They love also clean clothes as we have said already and yet they abhorre all places whereon the Sun shineth And it seemeth that the Sun is utterly against their nature for the same Scorpion which Wolphius had at Montpeller lived in the Glasse untill one day he set it in the Sun and then presently after it dyed To conclude they love hollow places of the earth neer gutters and sometimes they creep into mens beds where unawares they do much harm and for this cause the Lybians who among other Nations are most of all troubled with Scorpions do use to set their beds far from any wall and very high also from the floor to keep the Scorpions from ascending up into them And yet fearing all devises should be too little to secure them against this evil they also set the feet of their beds â—n vessels of water that so the Scorpion may not attempt so much as to climbe up unto them for fear of drowning And also for their further safeguard they were socks and hose in their beds so thick as the Scorpion cannot easily sting through them And if the bed be so placed that they cannot get any hold thereof beneath then they climbe up to the sieling or cover of the house and if there they finde any hold for their pinching legs to apprehend and fasten upon then in their hatred to man-kinde they use this policy to come unto him First one of them as I have said taketh hold upon that place in the house or sieling over the bed wherein they finde the man asleep and so hangeth thereby putting out and stretching his sting to hurt him but finding it too short and not being able to reach him he suffereth another of his fellowes to come and hang as fast by him as he doth upon his hold and so that second giveth the wound and if that second be not able likewise because of the distance to come at the man then they both admit a third to hang upon them and so a fourth upon the third and a fifth upon the fourth untill they have made themselves like a chain to descend from the top to the bed wherein the man sleepeth and the last striketh him after which stroke he first of all runneth away by the back of his fellow and every one again in order till all of them have withdrawn themselves By this may be collected the crafty disposition of this Scorpion and the great subtilty and malice that it is endued withall in nature and seeing they can thus accord together in harming a man it argueth their great mutuall love and concord one with another wherefore I cannot but marvell at them who have written that the old ones destroy the young all but one which they set upon their own buttocks that so the Dam may be secured from the sting and bitings of her son For seeing they can thus hang upon one another without harm favouring their own kinde I see no cause but that nature hath grafted much more love betwixt the old and the young ones so as neither the old do first destroy the young nor afterward that young one preserved in revenge of his fellowes quarrell killeth his Parents It is reported by Aristotle that there is a hill in Caria wherein the Scorpions do never sting any strangers that lodge there but only the naturall born people of that Countrey And hereunto Pliny and Aelianus seem to subscribe when they write that Scorpiones extraneos leniter mordere that is Scorpions bite strangers but gently And hereby it may be collected that they are also by nature very sagacious and can discern betwixt nature and nature yea the particular differences in one and the same nature To conclude Scorpions have no power to hurt where there is no bloud The naturall amity and enmity they observe with other creatures commeth now to be handled and I finde that it wanteth not adversaries nor it again hath no defect of poyson or malice to make resistance and opposition and to take vengeance on such as it meeteth withall The principall of all other subjects
Serpentem baculumque neribus ambit Perspice usque nota visum ut cognoscere possis Vertar in hunc sed major ero tantusque videbor In quantum verti coelestid corpora possunt Which may be Englished thus Fear not for I will come and leave my shrine This Serpent which doth wreath with knots about this staffe of mine Mark well and take good heed thereof for into it tranformed will I be But big too I will be for I will seem of such a size As wherein may celestial bodies turn suffice But all Poets are so addicted to faigning that I my self may also seem while I imitate them to set down fables for truth and if ever there were such a Snake as this it was Diabolical and therefore in nature nothing to be concluded from it and in that place of Rome called Biremis and Triremis was Aesculapius worshipped And at this day in the Gardens called S. Bartholomews-Gardens there is a Marbleship on the side whereof is the figure of a creeping Snake for the memory of this fact as writeth Gyraldus But in the Emblems and documents of the ancient heathen it is certain that Aesculapius and the Snake and the Dragon did signifie health and from hence it came to have the name of the Holysnake and also to be accounted full of medicine The true occasion in nature was for that about the Countries of Bortonia and Padua they have a Snake which they call Bisse and Bisse-angua sanca and about Padua Autza which they say is harmlesse And as well children as men do often take up the same into their hands with no more fear and dread then they would do a Coney or any other tame and meek creature By the relation of Pellinus it is in length five spans and five fingers the head also compared with the body is long and in the neck thereof are two blanches and betwixt them a hollow place the back part whereof is attenuated into a thin and sharp tail and upon either chap they have many teeth which are sharp and without poyson for when they bite they do no more harm then fetch bloud only and these men for oftentation fake wear about their necks and women are much terrified by them in the hands of wanton young boys The back of this Snake as writeth Erastus is blackish and the other parts green like unto Leeks yet mixed with some whitenesse for by reason it seedeth upon herb it beareth that colour They are also carryed in mens bosoms and with them they will make knots For the same Erastus affirmeth that he saw a Fryer knit one of them up together like a garter but when he pulled it harder then the Snake could bear it turned the head about and bit him by the hand so as the bloud followed yet there came no more harm for it was cured without any medicine and therefore is not venomous In the Mountain of Maur 〈…〉 ia called Ziz the Snakes are so familiar with men that they wait upon them at dinner time like Cats and little Dogs and they never offer any harm to any living thing except they be first of all provoked Among the Bygerons inhabiting the Pyrenes there be Snakes four foot long and as thick as a mans arm whith likewise live continually in the houses and not only come peaceably to their table but also sleep in their beds without any harm in the night-time they hisse but seldom in the day time and pick up the crums which fall from their tables Among the Northern people they have household Snakes as it were houshold Gods and they suffer them both to eat and to play with their Infants lodging them in the Cradles with them as if they were faithful Keepers about them and if they harm any body at any time they account it Pium piaculum a very divine and happy mischance But after they had received the Christian faith they put away all these superstitions and did no more foster the Serpents brood in detestation of the Devil who beguiled our first Parents in the similitude of a Serpent Yet if it happen at any time that a house be burned all the Snakes hide themselves in their holes in the earth and there in short space they so encrease that when the people come to re-edifie they can very hardly displant their number Plautus in his Amphitryo maketh mention of two named Snakes which descended from the clowds in a shower but this opinion grew from the fiction of the Epidaurian Snake which only by the Poets is described with a mane and a combe and therefore I will not expresse the Snakes to have a mane There is no cause why we should think all Snakes to be without poyson for the Poet hath not warned us in vain where he saith Frigidus ô pueri fugite hinc latet Anguis sub herba Which may be Englished thus Fly hence you boys as far as feet can bear Vnder this herb a Snake full cold doth lear For this cause we will leave the discourse of the harmlesse Snake and come to those which are no way inferior to any other Serpent their quantity and spirit being considered wherefore we are to consider that of Snakes which are venomous and hurtful there are two kindes one called the Water-snake the other the Land-snake The Water-snake is called in Greek Hydra Hydros Hydrales Karouros and Enhydris in Latine Natrix and Lutrix Munster calleth it in Hebrew Zepha and Avicen relateth certain barbarous names of it as Handrius Andrius and Abides and Kedasuderus Echydrus and Aspistichon The Germans call it Nater Wasser-nater and Wasser-schlange and they describe it in the manner as it is found in their Countrey which doth not very far differ from them of our Countrey here in England It is as they say in thicknesse like the arm of a man or childe the belly thereof yellow and of a golden colour and the back blackish-green and the very breath of it is so venomous that if a man hold to it a rod newly cut off from the tree it will so infect it that upon it shall appear certain little bags of gall or poyson And the like effect it worketh upon a bright naked sword if it do but touch it with the tongue for the poyson runneth from one end to the other as if it were quick and leaveth behinde a line or scorched path as if it had been burned in the fire And if this Serpent fortune to bite a man in the foot then is the poyson presently dispersed all over the body for it hath a fiery quality and therefore it continually ascendeth but when once it cometh to the heart the man falleth down dyeth And therefore the meetest cure is to hang the party so wounded up by the heels or else speedily to cut off the member that is bitten And that which is here said of the Water-snake doth also as properly belong the Land-snake seeing there is no difference
silent and cease wondering at the amphitheatricall fights of the Romans which were made with seats and scaffolds to behold Playes and sights and where were presented to the Spectators the bloudy fights of Elephants Bears and Lions sithence a small Spider dare challenge to the field and fight hand to hand with a black and blew Serpent and not only to come down to him in daring wise but also victoriously to triumph over him entirely possessing all the spoyl Who would not marvail that in so small or in a manner no body at all which hath neither bones nor sinnewes nor flesh nor scarce any skin there could be so great force such incredible audacity and courage such sharp and hard bitings and invincible fury Surely we must conclude necessarily that this cannot proceed altogether from their valiant stomacks but rather from GOD himself In like sort they dare buckle with Toads of all sorts both of the land and water and in a singular combate overthrow and destroy them which thing not only Pliny and Albertus do recite and set down for a certain truth but Erasmus also in his Dialogue entituled De Amicitia maketh mention of reporting how a certain Monk lying fast asleep on whose mouth a foul Toad sate and yet by the Spiders means was freed from all hurt Yea they dare enter the combat with winged and stinged Hornets having not soft but stiffe bodies and almost as hard as horn who although she many times breaketh through their Cobwebs with main strength as rich men undoe and make a way through Lawes with Gold and by that means many times scape scot-free yet for all that at length being over-mastered hand to hand in single combat and intangled and insnarled with the binding pastinesse and tenacious glewish substance of the Web she payeth a deer price for her breaking into anothers house and possession yeelding at length to the Spiders mercy I will not omit their temperance a vertue in former ages proper only to men but now it should seem peculiar to Spiders For who almost is there found if age and strength permit that contenteth himself with the love of one as he ought but rather applyeth his minde body and wandering affections to strange loves But yet Spiders so soon as they grow to ripenesse of age do choose them Mates never parting till death it self make the separation And as they cannot abide Corrivalls if any Wedlock-breakers and Cuckold-makers dare be so snappish to enter or so insolently proud as to presse into anothers house or Cottage they reward him justly with condigne punishment for his temerarious enterprize and flagitious fact First by their cruell bitings then with banishment or exile and oftentimes with death it self So that there is not any one of them that dare offer villany or violence to anothers Mate or seek by any means unlawfully to abuse her There is such restraint such strict orders such faithfull dealing uprightnesse of conscience and Turtle love amongst them Further if you look into their house-keeping you shall finde there is nothing more frugall then a Spider more laborious cleanly and fine For she cannot abide that even the least end or piece of her thred to be lost or to be placed and set to no use or profit and they ease and relieve themselves by substitutes that supply their rooms and take pains for them for whilest the Female weaveth the Male applyeth himself to hunting if either of them fall sick and be weak then one of them doth the work of both that their merits and deserts may be alike So sometimes the Female hunteth whilest the Male is busie about Net-making if the one stand in need of the others help and furtherance But yet commonly the Female-Spider being instructed of her Parents when she was young and docible the art of spinning and weaving which custome was amongst us also in times past beginneth the Cobweb and her belly is sufficient to minister matter enough for such a piece of work whether it be that the nature or substance of the belly groweth to corruption at sun-set and appointed time as Democritus thought or whether there be within them a certain lanigerous fertility naturally as in Silk-worms Aristotle is of opinion that the matter is outward as it were a certain Shell or pill and that it is unwound loosened and drawn out by their fine weaving and spinning But howsoever it be certain it is they will not by their good wills lose the least jot of a threds end but very providently see to all though never so little The love they bear to their young breed is singular both in the care they have for their fashioning and framing to good orders and for their education otherwise for the avoidance of idlenesse For the Male and Female do by turns sit upon their Egges and so by this way interchangeably taking courses they do stirre up quicken move and encrease naturall and lively heat in them and although it hath been sundry times observed that they have brought forth three hundred young ones at once yet do they train them up all alike without exception to labour parsimony and pains-taking and inure them in good order to fashion and frame all things fit for the weaving craft I have often wondred at their cleanlinesse when to keep all things from nastinesse or stinking I have beheld with mine eyes those that were lean ill-favoured and sickly to come glyding down from the upper to the lower part of their buildings and there to exonerate nature at some hole in the Web lest either their shop work-house or frame might be distained or annoyed And this is sufficient to have spoken of their politicall civil and domesticall vertues Now will I proceed to discourse of their skill in weaving wherewith Pallas was so much offended for the Scholar excelled her Mistres and in fine cunning and curious workmanship did farre surpasse hers First then let us consider the matter of the Web whose substance is tough binding and glutinous pliant and will stick to ones fingers like Bird-lime and of such a matter it is compounded as it neither loseth his clamminesse and fast-holding quality either by siccity or moysture The matter whereof it is made is such as can never be consumed wasted or spent whilest they live and being so endlesse we must needs here admire and honour the never ending and infinite power of the great God for to seek out some naturall reason for it or to ascribe it to naturall causes were in my minde meer madnesse and folly The Autumnall Spiders called Lupi or Hâ—lci Wolves or Hunters are thought to be the most artificiall and ingenious For these draw out a thred finer and thinner then any Silk and of such a subtilty that their whole Web being folded together will scarce be so heavy as one fine thred of Linnen being weighed together Edovardus Monimius hath very finely and eloquently described both the Males and Females Heptam lib. 7. in these words
for separating dividing picking carding or suting their stuffe they are very Bunglers to the first mentioned They apprehend and take their preyes rather casually then take any great pains to seek farre for it because their hole being great outwardly seemeth to be a good and convenient lurking-corner and a safe corner for Flies to hide themselves in but being entangled and arrested in the very entry they are snatched up suddenly by the watchfull Spider and carryed away into the more inward places of their dens there to be slaughtered For they watch and ward aloft in high walls and buildings as well to deceive such Birds as lye in wait to intrap and take them at unawares as Sparrowes Robin-red-breasts Wrens Nightingales and Hedge-Sparrowes which are all sworn enemies to Spiders and besides the more easily to beguile the silly flies suspecting no harm at all There be certain other sorts of Spiders which as yet I have not described as for example there is one the greatest of all that ever I saw which spreadeth her artificiall nets in the Harvest-time amongst the leaves and branches of Roses and entangleth either any other little Spider that is running away or else Gnat-flies and such like being caught at unawares and hanged by a kinde of thred whom she first pursueth and layeth hold on with a wonderfull dexterity and quicknesse and being fast hanged and so made sure she there leaveth them for the satisfying of her hungry appetite till another time The body of this Spider is in colour somewhat whitish resembling scumme or frothy some and almost of an Oval-figure the head very little placed under her belly being withall crooked or bending like hooks as is to be seen in the Crab-fish and her back garnished with many white spots This is one kinde of Autumnall Lupi or Wolf-Spider which in a very short space of time do grow from the bignesse of a little Pease to a very great bulk and thicknesse There are also found in all places of this Countrey long-legged Spiders who make a very homely and disorderly Web. This kinde of Spider liveth altogether in the fields her body is almost of a round figure and somewhat brownish in colour living in the grasse and delighting in the company of Sheep and for this cause I take it that we English men do call her a Shepheard either for that she keepeth and loveth to be among their flocks or because that Shepheards have thought those grounds and feedings to be very wholesome wherein they are most found and that no venemous or hurtfull creature abideth in those fields where they be And herein their judgement is to be liked for they are indeed altogether unhurtfull whether inwardly taken or otherwise outwardly applyed and therefore because I am tyed within a Teather and thereby restrained from all affectionate discoursing or dilating unlesse of poysonous and harmfull Creatures I will come into my path again and tell you of another certain black Spider that hath very short feet carrying about with her an Egge as white as Snow under her belly and running very swiftly the Egge being broken many Spiders creep forth which go forth with their dam to seek their living al together and climbing upon her back when night approacheth there they rest and so they lodge In rotten and hollow trees there are also to be found exceeding black Spiders having great bodies short feet and keeping together with Cheeselips or those creeping vermine with many feet called of some Sowes We have seen also saith the learned Gesner Spiders that were white all over of a round compact and well knit body somewhat broad living in the flowers of Mountain Parsely amongst Roses and in the green grasse their Egges were little slender and very long their mouth speckled and both their sides were marked with a red line running all alongest He took them to be very venemous because he saw a Marmoset or Munkey to eat of them and by eating thereof hardly to escape with life yet at length it did well again and was freed from further danger only by powring down a great deal of Oyl into his throat I my self have also seen some Spiders with very long bodies and sharp tayls of a blackish or dark red colour and I have noted other-some again to be all over the body green-coloured I will not deny but that there are many other sorts of Spiders and of many more different colours but I never read or yet ever saw them Neque enim nostra fert omnia tellus The ages ensuing peradventure will finde more I will only put you in remembrance of this one thing worthy to be observed that all weaving and Net-making Spiders according as they grow in years so do they acquire more knowledge and attain to greater cunning and experience in their spinning trade but carrying a resolute and ready will to keep both time and measure with that Musick which best contents most ears I will now pass to speak of the propagation and use of Spiders and so I will close up this discourse The propagation of Spiders for the most part is by coupling together the desire and action whereof continueth almost the whole Spring-time for at that time by a mutuall and often drawing and easie pulling of their Web they do as it were wooe one another then approach they neerer together and lastly are joyned with their hippes one against another backwards as Camels do for that is the most fit for them in regard of the round proportion and figure of their bodies In like sort do the Phalangies joyn together and are generated by those of the same kinde as Aristotle saith But the Phalangies couple not in the Spring-season as the other Spiders doe but towards Winter at what time they are very swift quick nimble and of most certain hurt more dangerous and more venemous in their bitings Some of them after their coupling together do lay one Egge only carrying it under their belly it is in colour as white as Snow and both Male and Female sit upon it by turns Some Spiders do exclude many little Egges very like unto the seeds of Poppy out of which it hath been observed that sometimes there have been hatched three hundred Spiders at one time which after their vain and idle plying and sporting together in their web at length come forth with their Dam and towards evening they all trudge home until each one hath learned and perfectly attained to the skill to spin his own web that therein he may spend the residue of his days in more pleasure ease and security They make exclusion of their young breed in hopping or skipping-wise they fit on their Egges for three days space together and in a moneths space their young ones come to perfection The domestical or House-spider layeth her egges in a thin web and the wilde-spider in a thicker and stronger because they are more exposed to the injuries of windes and lie more open to the rage and
but the truth is it rather weakeneth and destroyeth bodies then helpeth them and maketh a counterfeit or varnished false youth but no true youth at all Thus far Cardan and thus much of this Serpent the other things written of it are the same that are written of the Viper Of the TORTOISE THe last four-footed Egge-breeding Beast cometh now to be handled in due order and place namely the Tortoise which I have thought good to insert also in this place although I cannot finde by reading or experience that it is venomous yet seeing other before me have ranged the same in the number and catalogue of these Serpents and creeping creatures I will also follow them and therefore I will first expresse that of the Tortoise which is general and common to both kindes and then that which is special and proper to the Land and Sea Tortoises The name of this Beast is not certain among the Hebrews some call it Schabhul some Kipod and some Homet whereas every one of these do also signifie another thing as Schabhul a Snail Kipod a Hedge-hog and Homet a Lizard The Chaldeans call this Beast Thiblela the Arabians term it Sisemat also Kauâ—en salabhafe and Halachalie the Italians call this Testuma testudine veltestugire tartuca â—nsuruma tartocha coforona And in Ferraria Gallanae tartugellae biscae scutellariae the Inhabitants of Taurinum Cupparia the Portugals Gagado the Spaniards Galapago and Tartuga the French Tortue and Tartue and in Savoy Boug coupe the Germans Schiltkrot and Tallerkrot the Flemings Schiltpadde which answereth our English word Shell-crab the Grecians call it Chelone and the Latines Testudo which words in their several languages have other significations as are to be found in every vocabular Dictionary and thefore I omit them as not pertinent to this businesse or History There be of Tortoises three kindes one that liveth on the land the second in the sweet waters and the third in the Sea or salt waters There are found great store of these in India especially of the Water-tortoises and therefore the people of that part of the Countrey are called Chelonophagi that is Eaters of Tortoises for they live upon them and these people are said to be in the East-part of India And in Carmania the people are likewise so called And they do not only eat the flesh of them but also cover their houses with their shells and of their abundance do make them all manner of vessels Pliny and Solinus write that the Sea-tortoises of India are so big that with one of them they cover a dwelling Cottage And Strabo saith they also row in them on the waters as in a Boat The Island of Serapis in the Red-sea and the farthest Ocean Islands toward the East of the Red-sea hath also very great Tortoises in it and every where in the Red-sea they so abound that the people there do take them and carry them to their greatest Marts and Fairs to sell them as to Raphtis to Ptolemais and the Island of Dioscorides whereof some have white and small shells In Lybia also they are found and in the night time they come out of their lodgings to feed but very softly so as one can scarcely perceive their motion And of one of these Scaliger telleth this story One night saith he as I was travelling being overtaken with darknesse and want of light I cast about mine eyes to seek some place for my lodging safe and secure from wilde Beasts and as I looked about I saw as I thought a little hill or heap of earth but in truth it was a Tortoise covered all over with mosse upon that I ascended and sate down to rest whereupon after a little watching I fell asleep and so ended that nights rest upon the back of the Tortoise In the morning when light approached I perceived that I was removed far from the place whereon I first chose to lodge all night and therefore rising up I beheld with great admiration the sace and countenance of this Beast in the knowledge whereof as in a new nature I went forward much comforted in my wearisome journey The description of the Tortoise and several parts thereof now followeth to be handled Those creatures saith Pliny which bring forth or lay egs either have feathers as Fowls or have scales as Serpents or thick hides as the Scorpion or else a shell like the Tortoise It is not without great cause that this shell is called Scutum and the Beast Scutellaria for there is no buckler and shield so hard and strong as this is And Palladius was not deceived when he wrote thereof that upon the same might safely passe over a Cart-wheel the Cart being loaded And therefore in this the Tortoise is more happy then the Crocodile or any other such Beast Albertus writeth that it hath two shels one upon the back the other on the belly which are conjoyned together in four places and by reason of this so firm a cover and shell the flesh thereof is dry and firm also long lasting and not very easie or apt to putrefaction This shell or cover is smooth except sometimes when it is grown old it hath mosse upon it and it never casteth his coat in old age as other creeping things do In the head and tail it resembleth a Serpent and the great Tortoises have also shells upon their heads like a shield yet is the head but short and the aspect of it very fearful until a man be well acquainted therewith And by reason of the hardnesse of their eyes they move none but the neather eye-lid and that without often winking The liver of it is great yet without any bloud It hath but one belly without division and the liver is always foul by reason of the vitious temperature of the body The milt is exceeding small coming far short of the bodies proportion Beside the common nature of other thick-hided creatures It hath also reins except that kinde of Tortoise called Lutaria for that wanteth both reins and bladder for by reason of the softnesse of the cover thereof the humor is over-fluent but the Tortoise that bringeth forth egs hath all inward parts like a perfect creature and the females have a singular passage for their excrements which is not in the males The egs are in the body of the belly which are of a party-colour like the egs of Birds Their stones cleave to their loins and the tail is short but like the tail of a Serpent They have four legs in proportion like the legs of Lizards every foot having five fingers or divisions upon them with nails upon every one And thus much for the several parts They are not unjustly called Amphibia because they live both in the water and on the land and in this thing they are by Pliny resembled to Beavers but this must be understood of the general otherwise the Tortoises of the land do never dare come into the water and those of the water can breath in the
water hard and without motion not long after the shell being broken cometh forth the Empis and sits there till either moved by the wind or the Sun he be able to fly Thus far Gara Neverthelesse not to wrong a famous man I should think it a very easâ—e matter to shew where in many things he is out Why doth he translate the Empides Muliones who are said not to live above a day and feed only upon honey which must needs be hard for them to get so readily in Fens and Marishes For I may well call without wrong to the judgement either of Pliny or Penny the Muliones as they call them Melliones for they neither care for Mules nor feed on them but only upon Honey the which they can smell at a great â—istance they have a bill like a Wood-pecker long and sharp with which they devour in honey so greedily that at length they burst their bellies and so presently expire In this also did Gaza trip to say the least that may be that he translates the word Ascarides by the word Tipulae For the Ascarides whether they come forth of the earth or the water or otherwise every man knowes do signifie little worms Besides the Tipulae alwaies keep the top of the water seldome or never go down to the bottom Last of all when as the Tipulae themselves come of the Ascarides who can rightly say that Ascarides are the Tipulae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is called Culex ficarius i. e. Fig Gnat not because it comes indeed from the fig-tree but because it is fed and sustained by its fruit For it is sprung of a certain worm that breeds in the Figs which when nature cannot make her perfect work upon nor bring to the sweetness and perfection of other Figs lest she should make something in vain by a certain quickning vertue out of the grains of them being rotten and putrefied she produceth these Gnats Yet not so as that the Gnat is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or besides the intention of Nature as Scaliger hath learnedly observed or if it be the truth is the work by the bye is of more dignity than the main Nature did propose to its self the perfection of a wilde Fig a thing not so much to be esteemed of this she being not able to bring to passe turns her self from so common a work to an enterprise of greater weight and produceth a Gnat which she effecteth Concerning those Gnats Pliny hath these words the wilde Fig-tree brings forth Gnats these being defrauded of the nourishment they should have received from their mother being turned to rottenness they go to the neighbouring Fig-tree and with the often biting of the same fig-tree and greedily feeding upon it they let in the sun withall and set open a door for plenty of air to enter in at Anon after they destroy the milky moisture and infancy of the fruit which is done very easily and as it were of its own accord and for that cause the wilde fig-tree is alwaies set before the fig-trees that the wind when the Gnats fly out of them may carry them amongst the fig-trees who asloon as they come into them the figs swell and ripening of a sudden grow very big and full Whence it is that the Greeks to expresse a woman great with childe and near her time yea or newly conceived with childe call her 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gnat-bitten Those kemb'd and curle lockt Pathicks and prostitutes of unnatural lust were called from hence Capifricati as witnesseth the Greek Iambick 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nemo comptus nisi Caprificatus There is no man that curls and trims his locks that is not Caprificatus To this Caprification Turnebus thinks that Adrian the Emperor did allude when he upbraids that effeminate Poet Florus with his Pathick obscenity under the term of round Gnats in a most bitter Sarcasm Florus had said Ego nolo Caesar esse Ambulare per Britannos Scythicas pati pruinas To whom Caesar answereth Ego nolo Florus esse Ambulare per Tabernas Latitare per popinas Culices pati rotundos In English thus I would not Caesar be To travel Britany To suffer Scythian cold I would not Florus bee To walk the Taverns free In Sculking Brothels hide Or the round Gnats abide But what time these Gnats passe from the wilde fig to the fig-tree they do it in such haste that many of them leave either a foot or a wing behinde them Now that they generated of the grains of the unripe fig may be evident in that the wilde fig is left void of grains Cnips some call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so called of the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from biting or stinging for that the twinge the flesh and with their biting cause an itching in the same is a very small Gnat not unlike the Conops who although by his sitting upon the Fig it may seem the same Gnat spoken of before called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Theophrastus saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which place Pliny interprets thus There is a kinde of Gnat very offensive to certain trees as to the Oak of whose moisture that is under the bark they are thought to be bred Theophrastus cals all those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what ever they be that are bred in the Elm Naven Rapes Poley the Mastick Turpentine and other trees either with putrefaction or otherwise These or the like but a little bigger Cursius in his 13. Book saith are very hurtful to the orchard Wal-nuts which are called of those of Lions Bordella Bordells Galens opinion is they are great devourers of Grapes The moisture of the Elm included in its first growth in the leaves or rather bladders if it dry up is changed into these Cnipae In the Autumn it brings forth other kinde of Gnats many small and black called Canchryes Symphorianus They do especially haunt and spoil watered gardens the crop and scrape most kindes of herbs Velarandus Insulanus an Apothecary at Lions hath observed them very frequently to come forth of the middle or heart of the Oak Apple having a hole made into it as also out of divers other herbs not so much by reason of putrefaction but rather out of the alteration of certain principles being digested into a better nature by successive labour Origen upon Exodus saith that with these little creatures God did the third time take down the proud heart of Pharaoh the which are hung in the air by the wings but yet as it were invisible and do so subtilly and quickly pierce the skin that the fly which you cannot perceive flying you may feel stinging So all the ancient interpreters following Origen expound the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Only Tremelius a very faithful interpreter of the Hebrew Text and of sacred Writ is of another minde who thinks this plague to be a swarm of such kinde of creatures as if the Gnats and all other venemous and stinging flies
Grashoppers were of old time men born of the earth but by the favour of the Muses turned into that Musical sort of creatures the Grashoppers Even at this day sustaining their lives with no other food than dew and feeding themselves by continual â—inging they live For this cause the Athenians were called Tettigophori because they wore golden Grashoppers for ornament in their hair and for a token of their nobility and antiquity as Thucidides 1. Syngraph and Heraclides Ponticus de priscis Atheniensibus testifie Erytheus makes a proof of this custome being born of the earth as they say who first governed the Common-wealth of the Athenians and they too in the judgement of Plato the Natives were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. born of the earth Afterwards it came to be a custome that none but an Athenian or one born in the place might wear a Grashopper in his hair of this opinion is Aristoph as also his Scholiast Iâ—idore saith that the Cuckow-spittle doth generate Grashoppers which is not true but that it produceth small Locusts is manifest Lucretius in his 4 Book saith that the Grashopper in the Summer doth shift his skin according to this verse Cum veteres ponunt tunicas aestate Cicada And for that reason he is called by Hesychius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the naked Grashoppers or without a skin whom I should not have believed unless I had the picture of the skin so cast off by me Before Copulation the Males are of the more delicate taste afterwards the females for that they have in them white eggs very pleasant to the palat The Parthians as Pliny writeth and the rest of the eastern Nations feed upon them not only for nutrition sake but to open their veins and to stir up their languishing appetite as Atheneus in his 4. Book and Natalis Comes expresly affirm Hence Aristophanes in his Anagyrus out of Theocritus writes that the gods did feed upon Grashoppers at what time they had lost their appetite through choler or passion I have seen saith Aelian l. 12. c. 6. those that sold them tyed in bundles together for men to eat to wit the most voracious of all living creatures did sell the most jejune lest any thing should be lacking to their exquisite dainties Dioscorides gave rosted Grashoppers to eat and saith they are very good against the diseases of the bladder Some saith Galen use dryed Grashoppers for the Colick they give according to the number 3 5 or 7 grains of Pepper as well when it goes off as when it comes on Trallianus bids to give them for the Stone dried and beaten the wings and feet first of all taken away and this to be done in a bath with sweet Wine and Hippocrass Aegineta useth them dryed for the Stone in the reins and for the diseases of the reins he invented the composition called Diatettigon Such another like Antidote doth Myrepsus prescribe but all heads and feet as supervacaneous members being cast away Luminaris hath transcribed an Electuary out of Nicolaus of this sort Take Grashoppers their heads and legs cast away two ounces Grommel seed Saxifrage seed each 1 ounce Pepper Galanga Cinnamon of each 2 drams Lignum Aloes half a dram honey what is sufficient Nicolaus useth Grashoppers burned and powdered mingled with honey and gives them about the bigness of a bean in a quantity of wine Aetius gives three Grashoppers beat in Wine Some in stead of Cantharides use Grashoppers to provoke urine and in my judgement not without very good reason for they are taken with lesse danger and do work sooner as well in this disease as in the weakness of venery Nonus the Physician prescribes an Antidote of Grashoppers and Xenophyllum against the Stone in the kidneys Aretaeus for the remedies of the bladder speaks thus of Grashoppers The best remedy for the bladder is a Grashopper given in its time to eat Males before copulation but afterwards Females as we finde in Aristotle but out of their time dried and powdered boyl them with water and a little spike also let the patient sit in the same for a bath to ease the pains of the bladder Some of our later practitioners put Grashoppers in oyl and set them in the Sun and mingle them with oyl of Scorpions and anoint the privities of men and women the testicles and parts about with it for pains of the bladder Arnoldus Breviar l. 1. c. 20. 32. commends the powder of Grashoppers for the Colick and Iliack passion and also to drive forth the Stone if half a Grashopper in powder be drank with Goats bloud or Diuretick wine Lauframus highly esteems the ashes of Grashoppers to break the Stone taken with Radish water or the decoction of chich Pease Also they cause idle and lazy boyes to hunt after them Theocritus speaks thus of it in his first Idyllium Hee with thin ears of corn bound to a cane did make A whip for Grashoppers to hunt and take Neither are they only excellent meat and very usefull in Physick to men but they feed Birds also and insnare them For the youth of Crete as Bellonius witnesseth hide a hook in the body of a Grashopper and when they have fastned it to a line they cast it up into the air which the Merops seeing catch it and swalloweth which when the boyes perceive they draw it to them and so do exercise their air-fowling not without profit and pleasure The Grashoppers abounding in the end of the Spring do foretel a sickly year to come not that they are the cause of putrefaction in themselves but only shew plenty of putrid matter to be when there is such store of them appear Oftentimes their coming and singing doth pottend the happy state of things so Theocritus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Niphus saith that what year but few of them are to be seen they presage dearness of victuals and scarcity of all things else But whereas Jo. Langius a Philosopher of great reading and learning and a famous Physician saith lib. 2. epist that Grashoppers did eat the corn in Germany as the Locusts do Stumsius that it was done in Helvetia Lycosthenes lib. prodig and the Greek Epigram doth affirm that they eat the fruits and crop the herbs truly unless they mean a Locust in stead of a Grashopper they declare a strange thing and saving the credit of so famous men I will not believe for they have neither teeth nor excrement as hath been said but only feed and swell with the dew Besides although I have gone over all Helvetia Germany and England and have searcht for a Grashopper as for a needle yet could I fâ—nde none And therefore I suppose that both they themselves as also Guill de Conchy and Albert. Vincentius to have mistaken the Locust or Bruchus for the Grashopper being deceived by the common error who take the one for the other They that desire more of their nature and use may consult the Authors
is good as also a Bath and Wine and such things as help against Vipers stingings Paulus repeats the same remedies and Theban Cumin or seed of Agnus Castus or leaves of the white Poplar-tree drank in Beer are very effectual Out of Nicander Rosin of the Turpentine tree Pine or Pitch-tree drank or swallowed is exceeding good which Gesner and Bellonius say they learned by experience to be true Out of Avicenna The Myrtle-tree and the fruit of it Doronicum Mastick Assa foetida Dodder and its root the Indian Hazel-nut which is Theriac for this disease white Bdâ—llium all of these drank with Wine Take roots of Birthwort Flower-de-luce Spike Celtica Pellitory of Spain Daucus black Hellebore Cumin root of Daffodil leaves of Winter Wheat leaves of Dogs-tooth Pomegranate tops Hares Rennet Cinamon juice of River-crabs Storax Opium Carpobalsamum of each one ounce beat all to powder and make Troches the weight of one aureus which is the Dose of them Also give in Wine the decoction of the leaves of bituminous Trifoly of the Cyprus Nut Smallage-seed Moreover give to drink Pine kernels Aethiopian Cumin leaves and rinde of the Plane-tree seeds of Siler Montanum black wilde Chiches seed of Nigella Southern-wood Dill Birthwort fruit of the Tamarisk for all these are very good Also the juice of wilde Lettice and House-leek are commended The decoction of Cyprus Nuts especially with Cinamon and River-crabs juice and juice of a Goose Also the decoction of Sparagus with Wine and water Another Take Birthwort Cumin each three drams with hot water An approved Theriac Take Nigella seed ten drams Daucus Cumin each five drams Cyprus roots and Nuts each three drams Spipenard Bay-berries round Birthwort Carpobalsamum Cinamon Gentian seeds of Siler Montanum and of Smallage each two drams make a Confection with Honey the Dose is the quantity of a Nut with old Wine Confection of Assa Take Assa foetida Myrrhe Rue-leaves each alike make it up with Honey the Dose is one or two drams with Wine Out of Absyrtus Lullus Albucasis Rhasis Ponzettus Take white Pepper thirty grains with a draught of old Wine take it often Also Thyme is given in Wine Abâ—yrtus Drink upon it one spoonfull of Wine distilled with Balm Lullus Take dry Rue Costus wilde Mints Pellitoty of Spain Cardamum each alike Assa foetida one fourth part Honey what may suffice mingle all and make it up the Dose is the weight of an Hazel-nut in drink Albucasis A Hens brain drank with a little Pepper in sweet Wine or Posca The decoction of Cyprus-nuts with Wine A Theriac against the bitings of Phalangia Take Tartar six drams yellow Brimstone eight drams Rue-seed three drams Castoreum Rocket-seed each two drams with the bloud of the Sea-tortoise make an Opiate the dose is one dram with Wine Another Take Pellitory of Spain round Birthwort each one part white Pepper half a part Horehound four parts make it up with Honey the Dose is one dram Another Roots of Capers long Birthwort Bay-berries Gentian root each alike drink it with Wine Or drink Diassa with strong Wine and Cumin and Agnus Castus seed Another Take Nigella seed ten drams Daucus Cumin each five drams wilde Rue-seed Cyprus Nuts each three drams Indian Spike Bay-berries round Birthwort Carpobalsamum Cinamon Gentian root seed of bituminous Trifoly Smallage-seed each two drams make a Confection with Honey the Dose is the quantity of a Nut with old Wine Rhasis Out of Pliny Celsus Scaliger It is good for those that are bitten by the Phalangium to drink five Pismires or one dram of the Roman Nigella seed or black berries with Hypocistis and Honey Also Marish Smallage and wilde Rue are peculiar against the bitings of the Phalangia Also the bloud of the Land Tortoise is good juice of Origanum the root of Polymonia Vervain Cinquefoil the seed of Garden Onyons all the kindes of Housleek roots of Cyprus Turnsole with three grains of juice of Ivy-root in Wine or Posca also Castoreum two drams in Mulsum to cause vomit or in juice of Rue to stop it Also Agnus Castus seed two drams Apollodorus that followed Democrates calls a kinde of herb Crocides by the touch whereof Phalangia die and their force is abated the Mat-rush-leaves next the root eaten do profit Pliny Take wilde Vine-berries Myrrhe each alike drink them out of one Hemina of sod Wine Also the seed of Radish or root of Darnel must be drank with Wine * Celsus But amongst many other remedies that are proved one Antidote is due to Scaliger who was the ornament of our world and age the form of it is this Take true round Birthwort Mithridate each two ounces Terra Sigillata half an ounce Flies living in the flowrs of Napellus 22. Citron juice what may serve turn mingle them For saith he against this venome or any other bitings of Serpents Art hath scarce yet found out so effectuall a remedy Scaliger Juice of Apples drank or of Endive are the Bezar against the bitings of the Phalangium Petrus de Albano These are the most approved outward remedies Five Spiders putrefied in Oyl and laid on Asses or Horse dung anoynted on with Vinegar or Posca Take Vinegar three sextarii Brimstone a sixth part mingle them foment the place with a sponge or a bath the pain being a little abated wash the place with much sea-water some think that the stone Agates will cure all bitings of the Phalangia and for that reason it is brought out of India and sold dear Pliny Fig-tree ashes with Salt and Wine the root of the wilde Panace bruised Birthwort and Barley-meal impasted with Vinegar water and Honey and Salt for a fomentation Decoction of Balm or the leaves of it made into a Pultis and applyed we must constantly use hot Baths Pliny Open the veins of the tongue and rub the places swolne with much Salt and Vinegar then provoke sweat diligently and warily Vigetius The practicall men mightily commend the root of Panax Chironia Theophrastus Anoynt the wound with Oyl Garlick bruised or Onyons or Knot-grasse or Barley-meal with Bay-leaves and Wine or Wine Lees or wilde Rue lay it onwith Vinegar for a Cataplasme Nonus Take live Brimstone Galbanum each four Denarii Lybian juice and Euphorbium each alike Hazel-nuts pild each two drams dissolve them in Wine and with wine make a Cataplasme also inwardly it helps much Flies bruised and laid on the part affected Also a Barbel heals the bites of a venemous Spider if it be cut raw and applyed to it Galen Anoynt all the body with a most liquid Oyntment with wax Foment the part affected with Oyl wherein bituminous Trifoly hath been soked or with a Sponge and hot Vinegar very often Make also a Cataplasme of these that follow namely with Onyons bloudwort Solomons seal Leeks Bran boyled in Vinegar Barley-meal and Bay-leaves boyled in Honey and Wine Make them also with Rue Goats dung with Wine Cyprus Marjoram and wilde Rue with Vinegar Asclepias his Plaister
rather from God himself In the same fashion they enter the lists with land and water Toads and kill them in single fight For not only Pliny and Albertus the Philosopher mention this but also Erasmus in his Dialogue of friendship relates how a certain Monk who slept with open mouth and had a Toad hanging at his lip escaped by assistance of the Spider Oft-times also they enter the stage with the winged Hornet that hath a strong sting and fibres almost of horn who straight by main force breaks through their webs as great rich men do with the Laws yet at last he is wrapt in a more tenacious glew and pays for breaking open their houses and conquer'd in single duel he becomes subject to the Spider I must not passe by their temperance that was once proper to Man but now the Spiders have almost won it from them Who is there now if age will let him who will be content with the love of one and doth not deliver up himself body and soul to wandring lust But the Spider so soon as they grow up choose their mates and never part till death Moreover as they are most impatient of corrivals so they set upon any Adulterers that dare venture upon their Cottages and bite them and drive them away and oft-times justly destroy them Nor doth any one of them attempt to offer violence to the female of another or to assault her chastity So great command have they of their affections so faithful and entire are they in their conjugal love like Turtles If you respect their houshold government what is there more frugal more laborious or more cleanly to be seen in the whole world For they will not suffer the least thread to be lost or placed in vain and they ease themselves by interchangeable work for when the female weaves the male hunts if either be sick the other supplies both offices that they may deserve alike So sometimes the female hunts and the male weaves and this at any time when the one wants the others assistance for we cannot think them so void of mutual love that living so faithful in Matrimony the one should not lend a helping hand to the others necessities and so by mutual courtesie they continues their friendship amongst themselves The female at home being now learned from her Parents to spin and weave as she is wont to do with us she begins her webs and her belly contains all the matter of them whether it be for that at a certain time her entrails are so corrupted as Democritus said or that there is a kinde of woolly fruitfulnesse in her as there is in the Silk-worm Yet Aristotle will have the matter to be without like a thin shell which is drawn in length by spinning and weaving or after the manner of those that shoot out their bristles as the Porcupine However it be they lose not the least end of a thred but they undertake all by providence Their love to their young ones no man can rightly describe but he that loves his children himself For by mutuall incubation they foster their Egges and raise up and increase the heâ—t of them and thouhg oft-times they produce three hundred young ones yet they bring them all up alike to labour sparingnesse discipline and weaving and love them all alike I have oft wondred at their cleanlinesse when I have seen those that were weak and sick to go down to the bottome of their Web out of their dens and exonerate their bellies lest by the filth of their excrements their houses or Web or threds should be polluted And these things shall suffice for their civill and oeconomicall vertues Now let us proceed to their art of making Nets which is so offensive to Pallas for the Scholar exceeded her Mistris in the curiosity of her work First therefore we shall consider the clammy stuffe that drawes like Bird-lime which loseth not its tenaciousnesse by drinesse nor by moysture we said from Pliny that she drawes this stuffe out of her belly But seeing that the males weave also I think on good grounds with our friend Bruerus that it is drawn out of the entrails behinde And since it cannot be exhausted we may wonder at the infinite and endlesse power of God and adore it for it were next to madnesse to assign this to bodily or naturall causes Those Spiders are held to be the best Artificers that work in Autumn and are called Holei they draw a thred that is smaller then any linnen or silk and farre lighter and so pure saith Aelianus that the whole Web wrapt together will scarce make one thred as great as a linnen thred though it be never so small Edwardus Monimus described these both Males and Females very elegantly Heptam l. 7. in these words He hunts at home But she doth weave within her tender loom And jugler-like she from her belly casts Great clewes of yarn and thred which while it lasts She works to make her Nets and every part She frames exactly by Dedalian art Her Web is fastened to the beam the threds Are parted by fit lines at severall heads She works from Centre to circumference The Web is made on both sides for defence Pervious lest when the East-winde doth set Strong it might break this tender wâ—rke and yet The strongest Flie may be held in this Net No sooner can a Flie but shake her thread The male runs to the Centre and his head Peeps forth to catch what comes so is he fed The variety of their Nets is so great that it is not called amisse the Goddesse of a thousand works some of them are looser some thicker some triangular others square some Diamond figures for the commodity of the swiftnesse of hawking But that which is round is commonly wrought between two trees or Reeds and oft times in divers windowes hanged fast with ropes and sail-yards Good God what great reason judgement art what admirable wisdome and beauty she shews Truly we may not suppose amisse to say that Euclides learned to make his figures from hence and Fishermen their Nets for from whence else could they fetch such an example of so curious and laborious a Mistresse So finely is her work besmeared and made so round and exact and so equally ballanced and she doth so work her body in place of a weight and spindle that she may well be compared with Minerva but that the comparison makes me afraid Also the work is so firm though it appear so weak that it will hold Hornets endure force of windes and dust being fallen into it it rather yeelds than breaks or is hurt The manner of her Net-work is this First she drawes her semidiameters to the places circumabient most fit for her work then with no compasse but by a naturall skill of her feet she makes 44 circles with her thread from the center to the circumference by equall parts more distant one from the other Moreover that is worth our
work The field Spider with a body almost round and brown that lives about grasse and Sheep the English call it Shepheard either because it is pleased with the company of Sheep or because Shepherds think those fields that are full of them to be good wholsome Sheep-pasture and no venome to be it for this Shepherd taken inwardly or outwardly applyed is a harmlesse Creature There are yet more kindes of Spiders for there is a kinde of black Spider with short feet that hath a white Egge under the belly white as snow and running swiftly when the Egge breaks many young Spiders run forth which go all with their Dam to feed and at night they rest upon the Dams back Pennius supposed that this was rough with warts untill he touched it with a straw and saw the young Spiders to run down Also in rotten hollow trees there are very black Spiders with great bodies very short feet that dwell with Cheeslips and Catterpillers called Juli. Also saith Gesner we have seen them all white with a compacted and broad little body upon the flower of Mountain Parsley Roses and grasse they have most long slender legs the mouth is noted with a spot and both sides with a red line he thought it was venemous because he saw a Munkey almost dead that had eaten one and could hardly be recovered by powring Oyl down his throat We know also Spiders with a long body and a sharp tail they are red from black as also green Also there are red ones of two kindes one great one that dwells only in the Caves of the earth with a body Cinnaber colour with feet yellow from red the tail and belly tend toward yellow a little from brown There is another sort very small lesse then a Sheeps Tike as red as Scarlet it hath but six feet being a monster amongst Spiders it hath a head like as Spiders have but it is very small It lives in the earth and weaves a very course Web and not well wrought sometimes she wandreth abroad and shews great agility to catch her prey We grant willingly that there are more kindes of Spiders and of more colours for our land brings not all things forth nor yet did Actorides though he was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 see all things It may be future times may delineate the rest better In the mean time we have spoken of Spiders if not to delight yet according as we thought fit and we would do no more because in writing so much of them we have taken great pains Yet this we shall observe that all Net-workers and Web-workers amongst Spiders do grow to have greater skill by age and that shut up in Wooll they increase the generation of Moths and they yearly oft times cast off their old skin and the greater and lustier they are the more ingenious are they found to be in their gifts of life CHAP. XV. Of the generation copulation and use of Spiders IT is manifest that Spiders are bred of some aereall seeds putrefied from filth and corruption because that the newest houses the first day they are whited will have both Spiders and Cobwebs in them But their propagation is frequently by copulation the desire and act whereof lasts almost all the Spring They do by a mutual and frequent attraction of their Net as it were kindle venery and continually aâ— they draw they come neerer then at last they copulate backwards because that manner of copulation by reason of their round body was most convenient After the same manner do all the Phalangia that weave copulate together and they are generated from creatures of the same kinde as Aristotle testifies But they copulate not in the Spring but at beginning of the Winter at which time they go fastest and hurt certainly and seem to be more venemous Some after copulation lay one Egge alone and carry it under their belly and it is white as snow and they sit on it by course the male sometimes helping the female Others lay many and very small Egges like Poppy-seeds out of which sometimes thirty small Spiders are bred after some trifling sports in their Web they go forth with their Dam and in the evening they come in again untill such time as each of them hath learned to spin its own Web to live more safely and pleasantly they thrust forth their young by leaping they sit on their Egges three dayes and in a Lunar moneth they bring their young to perfection The House Spiders lay their Egges in a thin Web but the field Spiders in a thick because they may resist the greater forces of winde and rain the place helps much for Generation For as in the Countrey of Arrhentia and in the Island of Crete there are great store of Phalangia so in Ireland there are none they did not long indure in England the Tower at Gratianâ—â—oâ—is would suffer none for though many of our Spiders swallowed down do hurt us yet their bite is harmlesse and no man is killed by it buâ— the bitings of all Phalangia are deadly Where shall you not finde these Spiders that bite without doing hurt they climbe up into Kings Courts to teach them vertue they work in Noble mens Chambers to teach them their Duties they dwell in poor mens houses to teach them patience to suffer and to labour Goe but into your Orchard and each tree is inhabited by them in your Garden they hide in Roses in the field they work in hedges you shall finde them at home and abroad that you may have no cause to complain that there are no examples for vertue and diligence every where The Spider though Pallas called her impudent Martial unconstant Claudian bold Politian pendulous Juvenal dry Propertius corrupt Virgil light Plautus unprofitable yet is she good and created for many uses as shall appear clearly wherefore adoring the Majesty of God who hath given so great vertues to so small a Creature we shall proceed to speak of the profits we receive by her The Flie-catching Spider wrapt in a linnen cloth and hang'd on the left arm is good to drive away a Quotidian saith Trallianus But better iâ— many of them be boyld with Oyl of Bayes to the consistence of a Liniment if you anoynt the arteries of the Wrists the arms and Temples before the fit the Feaver abates and seldome comes again Kiramides A Spider bruised with a plaister and spread on a cloath and applyed to the Temples cures a Tertian Dioscorides The Spider called Loycos put in a quill and hang'd on the breast doth the same Pliny That House Spider that spins a thick fine and white Web shut up in a piece of leather or a Nur-shell and hang'd to the arm or neck is thought to drive away the fits of a Quartane Dioscorid Pennius saith he proved it to be true Three living Spiders put into Oyl let them presently boyl on the fire drop some of that Oyl warm into the ear that
those that have Worms especially if they have no Feaver Out of Paulus It consists of red Nitre Pepper Cardamoms of each equall parts mingle all these and give of them a spoonfull in Wine or hot Water for it quickly brings them out Another which is an Electuary of Paulus Take Pepper Bay-berries cleansed Aethiopian Cumin Mastick of Chios of each alike Honey what may serve turn give one spoonfull in the morning and let them sleep upon it but if you would do this more effectually adde Nitre as much as of each Another of the same Tâ—ke Fern a sawcer-full Nitre two peny weight give it with a spoonfull of water after evacuation but it is better to adde a little Scammony to it Another of the same and of Aetius Take of the bark of the root of a sowre Pomegranate scraped from the upper part Pepper of each four peny weight Cardamoms six peny weight Horehound two penny weight the best Honey what is sufficient give one spoonfull of it after eating Garlick or Leeks But that the disease may be wholly driven away give some Theriac for Galen highly commends it for this use Another out of Oribasius that he alwayes used by the experience of his masters and had a long time proved it for good It contains Scammony one Scruple Euforbium as much and half as much the powder of burnt feathers one scruple Nitre in weight one Siliqua give this to drink in honey'd or sweet wine But it will fall out better if he first eat Garlick or some sharp thing Also here is a Plaister of another Author that is good against all Worms especially broad ones Take Lupines Bay-berries cleansed Bulls gall lay these on the navel and binde it on with a swathe-band for one day and night or else for two or three dayes Against broad Worms from another Authour Take Southern-wood scraped Harts-horn Coccus gnidius and Sesamum of each one penny weight Cardamoms three oboli give this to drink with Oxymel Another for the same use Take Gum Arabick one peny weight Fern three peny weight Cardamoms one peny weight Nitre three peny weight give it in Hydromel or Ale Also against the same is the Antidote called Diaphereon Take Fern eight peny weight Scammony Gith Cardamoms salt Nitre of each two peny weight give it in Oxymel or Ale but adde Polypode four peny weight It is reported that Ascarides will trouble children and such as are come to their full growth But children are continually provoked to excretion and after egestion they are the better most commonly but those that are come to their full growth observing the trouble of such things that are the cause of them will thrust their fingers into their fundaments and pull them forth and further they will foment and abate these biting pains with peble-stones that lie in the Sun on the shores or else with stones put into the fire But some for fear will admit of none of these helps yet this disease ought not to be neglected for Worms will not easily yeeld to remedies nor are they easily driven forth but by strong means Wherefore children must be purged with Suppositars made of Honey and a little salt or Nitre or sharp pickle or with the decoction of Wormwood mingled with Oyl Also there ought to be a stronger purging and when they have voided their excrements the Longanum which is the place affected must be anoynted with it As for Simples they are Acacia Hypocistis the juice of Sumach with liquid Allome or Nitre but the Compounds are the Troches of Andron and those that are called Sphragides polydiae and with fat Wooll and such like for the flesh is made stronger by Astringents and loseth its readinesse to breed living Creatures and thrusts forth the Ascarides Andron his Troches are made thus Take flowers of Garden Pomegranates ten peny weight Galls eight peny weight Myrrhe four peny weight long Birthwort and as much Vitriol Saffron scistil Allum dregs of the Oyl of Saffron Mysi Frankincense of each two peny weight they are powdered and mingled with astringent wine or with Vinegar But Sphragis polydiae is thus Take scistil Allum three peny weight Frankincense four peny weight Myrrhe as much or eight peny weight Vitriol two peny weight flowers of tame Pomegranates twelve peny weight Bulls gall six peny weight Aloes eight peny weight make them up with sharp wine But that which is made with fat Wooll is thus made Take fat Wooll forty peny weight lead powder shales of Bitumen of each ten peny weight round scissil Allum Pomegranate shells Galls Mysi Vitriol Frankincense of each five peny weight Myrrhe two peny weight lees of Oyl eight Heminae Those that are of riper years must be purged with sharper and hotter remedies as with Diapicra and with Oyl mixt with wine in great quantity and other things infused as salt pickle the decoction of Centaury with Nitre and Honey or Coloquintida Chamaeleon Anchusa Lupins then Oyl of Cedar must be given in Clyster and after that rest often repeating the same method of cure also take salt flesh scraping away the fat and cut it long and round and thrust that into the Anus and binde it in to hold it there so long as may be and then lose it and in ject again the foresaid things and let us often repeat the same remedies CHAP. XXXIV Of Worms that breed without the Bowels and chiefly of Maggots THE living Worms that are bred in the head the brain the liver milt bladder reins muscles proceed from the same causes Worms in the guts doe and are destroyed by the same remedies But those Worms Hippocrates calls Eulas the English call Maggots or Gentils they are Worms without feet not unlike to Ascarides but that they are shorter a little and thicker considering their length There is no man almost that hath not seen these in Carrion and corrupt flesh and sometimes in limbs that are dead by the negligence of Chirurgions when as they apply a remedy that putrefies together with the wound or ulcer Hippocrates calls Eulas Worms bred in dead bodies Suidas calls them ill beasts flâ—sh-eaters Lucretius calls them cruel Vermin and Plutarch Worms from corruption and putrefaction of the excrements boyling forth Homer in his Iliads 19 and 24. saith they are Worms arising from putrid matter that are far smaller in the ears than in other ulcers And Coelius writes that they are called Eulae which Latin writers call improperly Earmoths since they agree with them neither in form nor figure nor in any mark whatsoever Lastly those small Worms that breed from Flies egges in flesh in Summer the English call them Flie-blowes and the Germans Maden as Camersius observed are reckoned amongst Eulae or Maggots But those Eulae or Maggots that breed in Hogs flesh or Bacon have a proper name given them by Festus and Perottus who call them Tarni Maggots Have either a tayl or they are without a tayl Hens feed on both kindes of them and
as Martin saith is cured thus Take a round hot iron somewhat sharp at the end like a good big bodkin and let it be somewhat bending at the point then holing the sore with your left hand pulling it somewhat from the sinews pierce it with the iron being first made red-hot thrusting it beneath in the bottom and so upward into the belly to the intent that the same jelly may issue downward out at the hole and having thrust out all the jelly tent the hole with a tent of Flaâ— dipt in Turpentine and Hogs grease molten together and also anoint the outside with Hogs grease made warm renewing it every day once until the hole be ready to shut up making the tent every day lesser and lesser to the intent it may heal up Of the Curb THis is a long swelling beneath the Elbow of the hough in the great sinew behind and causeth the Horse to halt after that he hath been a while laboured and thereby somewhat heated For the more the sinew is strained the greater grief which again by his rest is eased This cometh by bearing some great weight when the Horse is young or else by some 〈◊〉 or wrinch whereby the tender sinews are grieved or rather bowed as Russius saith whereof it is called in Italian Curba 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say of bowing for anguish whereof it doth swell which swelling is apparent to the eye and maketh the leg to shew bigger then the 〈◊〉 The cure according to Martin is thus Take of Wine-lees a pinte a porringer full of Wheat flowre of Cumin half an ounce and stir them well together and being made warm charge the sore three or four dayes and when the smelling is almost gone then draw it with a hot iron and cover the burning with Pitch and Rosen molten together and lay it on good and warm and clap thereon some flocks of his own colour or so nigh as may be gotten and remove them not until they fall away of themselves And for the space of nine dayes let the Horse rest and come in no wet Another of the Curb A Curb is a sorance that maketh a Horse to halt much and it appears upon his hinder legs straight behind upon the cumbrel place and a little beneath the Spaven and it will be swoln as big as half a Walout The cure followeth Take a small cord and bind his legs hard above it and beneath it then beat it and rub it with a heavy stick till it grow soft then with a fleam strike it in three or four places and with your thumbs crush out the filthy bruised matter then loose the cord and anoint it with Butter uutil it be whole Of the Pains THis is a kind of Scab called in Italian Crappe which is full of fretting matterish water and it breedeth in the pasterns for lack of clean keeping and good rubbing after the Horse hath been journyed by means whereof the sand and dirt remaineth in the hair fretteth the skin and flesh and so breedeth a Scab And therefore those Horses that have long hair and are rough about the feet are soonest troubled with this disease if they be not the cleanlier kept The signes be these His legs will be swollen and hot and water will issue out of the Scab which water is hot and fretting as it will scald off the hair and breed Scabs so far as it goeth The cure according to Martin is thus First wash well all the pasterns with Beer and Butter warmed together and his legs being somewhat dryed with a cloth clip away all the hair saying the sâ—wter locks Then take of Turpentine of Hogs grease of Hony of each like quantity mingle them together in a pot and put thereto a little Bole-armony the yolks of two Egges and as much Wheat flowre as will thicken the things aforesaid and make it plaister like and for that cause it had need to be very well wrought and stirred together Then with a slice strike some of the plaister upon such a piece of linnen cloth as will serve to go round about the pastern and bind it fast on with a roller renewing it once a day until it be whole and let not the Horse be travelled nor stand wet Another of the Pains PAins is a sorance that cometh of hot ill humors of ill keeping it appeareth in the Fetlocks and will swell in the Winter time and will send forth a sharp water the hair will stare and the cure is thus Wash them every day twice or thrice with gunpowder and Vinegar and they will be whole in one week at the most Of Mules or Kibed heels called of the Italians Mule THis is a kind of Scab breeding behind somewhat above the neather joynt growing overthwart the fewter lock which cometh most commonly for being bred in cold ground or else for lack of good dressing after that he hath been laboured in foul mire and dirty wayes which durt lying still in his legs fretteth the skin and maketh scabby rifts which are soon bred but not so soon gotten away The anguish whereof maketh his legs somewhat to swell and specially in Winter and Spring time and then the Horse goeth very stifly and with great pain The sorance is apparent to the eye and is cured according to Martin in this sort Take a piece of linnen cloth and with the salve recited in the last Chapter make such a plaister as may cover all the sore place and bind it fast on that it may not fall off renewing it every day once until the sore leave running and beginneth to waâ— dry then wash it every day once with strong water until it be clean dryed up but if this 〈◊〉 be but in breeding and there is no raw flesh then it shall suffice to anoint it with Sope two or three dayes and at the three dayes end to wash them with a little Beef broath or dish water Of Frettishing FRettishing is a sorance that cometh of riding a Horse till he sweat and then to set him up without litter where he taketh suddenly cold in his feet and chiefly before it appears under the heel in the heart of the foot for it will grow dun and wax white and crumbly like a 〈◊〉 and also in time it will show by the wrinkles on his hoof and the hoof will grow thick and 〈◊〉 he will not be able to tread on stones or hard ground nor well to travel but stumblâ— and fall The cure is 〈◊〉 Take and pare his feet so thin as may be then lost two or three Egges in the Embers very hard 〈◊〉 being extreme hot taken out of five trush them in his foot and then clap a piece of Leather there 〈◊〉 and splint it that the Egges may not fall out and so let him run and he will be sound Of sorances or griefs that be common to all Fore-feet HItherto we have declared unto you the causes signes and cure of all such
griefs as are properly incident either to the fore-legs or hinder-legs now therefore we speak of those griefs that be common to them both and first of Windgals Of Windgals THe Windgal called of the Italians Galla is a bladder full of corrupt jelly whereof some be great and some be small and do grow on each side of the joynt and is so painful 〈◊〉 especially in Summer season when the weather is hot and the ways hard as the Horse is not able to travel but halteth down right They come for the most part through extreme labour and hext whereby the humors being dissolved do flow and resort into the hollow places about the â—eather joynts and there be congealed and covered with a thin skin like a bladder They be apparent to the eye and therefore need no other signes to know them The cure whereof according to Martin is thus Wash them with water and shave off the hair scarifie them with the point of a rasor and dress them with Cantharides in the self same manner as the splent in the knee was taught before and anoint them afterward with Butter untill the skin be whole And if this will not heal it then draw them with a hot Iron like a ragged staffe That done slit the middle line which passeth right down through the windgal with a sharp knife beginning beneath and so upward the length of half an inch to the intent you may thrust the jelly out at that hole then lay unto it a little Pitch and 〈◊〉 zen molten together and made luke-warm and put a few flocks on it and that will heal him And you may dry up the Windgal in such manner as here followeth First chop off the hair so far as the Wind-gal extendeth and having strieken it with a fleam thrust out the jelly with your finger Then take a piece of red wollen cloth and clap it to the place and with a hot broad searing Iron sear it so as the Iron may not burn through the cloth which is done to dry up the humors Then having taken away the cloth lay unto the place a piece of Shoomakers 〈◊〉 made like a flat cake about the breadth of a testron and with your Iron not made over hot streek softly upon it to and fro untill the said wax be throughly melted into the sure Whereupon lay a few flocks and let him go Which flock will afterward fall away of their own aâ—cord Of Windgals WIngals are easie to cure they be little swellings like blebs or bladders on either side the joynt next unto the fewter-locks as well before as behinde and they come through the occasion of great travel in hard gravelly or sandy ways The cure is Take Pitch Rozen and Mastick of each like quantity melt them together and with a stick lay it round about the Horses legs and whilest it is hot lay flocks thereon the nature of this plaister is never to come away whilest there is 〈◊〉 Windgal on the Horses legs but when they are dryed up then it will fall away of it self Of Wrinching the neather joynt THis cometh many times by treading away in some Care root or otherwise The signes be these The joynt will be swollen and sore and the Horse will halt The cure whereof according to Martin is thus Take of Dialthea half a pound and as much of 〈◊〉 mingle them together and anoint the sore place therewith chasing it well with both your hands that the Ointment 〈◊〉 enter continuing so to do every day once until the Ointment be all spent and let the Horse rest But if this will not prevail then wash it with warm water and 〈◊〉 away all the 〈◊〉 saving the 〈…〉 lock Scarifie it and lay to it Clantharides and heal it as you do each spleat 〈◊〉 the knee Of Enterfering BEcause Enterfering is to be hâ—lpen by shâ—â—ing we purpose hot to speak of it untill we come to talk of the order of paring and shâ—â—ing all manner of hoâ—fs Another of Enterfering ENterfering is a grief that cometh by sometimes by all shooing and sometimes naturally 〈◊〉 Horse trots so narrow that he â—ews one leg upon another it appeareth both before and he hinde between the feet against the set loâ—ks and there is no remedy but shooing him with 〈◊〉 made than and flat on the outside and narrow and think within Of the Shakel-gall IF a Horse be galled in the pasterns with shakel lock pastern or haster anoint the sore place with a little Honey and Verdigrease boyled together untill it look red which is a good Ointment for all gallings on the withers and immediately strow upon the Ointment being first laid upon the leg a little chopt flax or tow and that will stick fast continuing so to do every day once untill it be whole Of hurts in the Legs that cometh by casting in the halter or collar IT chanceth many times that a Horse having some itch under his ears is desirous to scratch the same with his hinder-foot which whilest he reacheth to and fro doth fasten in the collar or halter wherewith the more that he striveth the more he galleth his legs and many times it chanceth for that he is tyed so long by means whereof being laid and the halter slack about his feet rising perhaps or turning he snarleth himself so as he is not able to get up but hangeth either by the neck or legs which sometime are galled even to the hard bone Russius calleth such kind of galling Capistratura which he was wont to heal with this Ointment here following praising it to be excellent good for the cratches or any seab bruise or wound Take of Oyl Olive one ounce of Turpentine two or three ounces melt them together over the fire and then put thereunto a little Wax and work them well together and anoint the sore place therewith Martin saith it is good to anoint the sore place with the white of an Egge and Sallet Oyl beaten together and when it cometh to a scab anoint it with Butter being molten until it look brown Of the Cratches or Rats tails called of the Italians Crepaccie THis is a kinde of long scabby rifts growing right up and down in the hinder part from the fewter-lock up to the curb and cometh for lack of clean keeping and is easily seen if you take up the Horses foot and lift up the hair The cure according to Martin is thus Take of Turpentine half a pound of Honey a pinte of Hogs grease a quartern and three yolks of Egges and of Bole-armony a quartern beaten into fine powder of Bean-flowre half a pinte mingle all these well together and make a salve thereof and with your finger anoint all the sore places sheading the hair as you go to the intent you may the easier finde them and also to make the salve enter into the skin and let the Horse come in no wet untill he be whole Of the Scratches SCratches will cause a Horse to