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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42668	The history of four-footed beasts and serpents describing at large their true and lively figure, their several names, conditions, kinds, virtues ... countries of their breed, their love and hatred to mankind, and the wonderful work by Edward Topsell ; whereunto is now added, The theater of insects, or, Lesser living creatures ... by T. Muffet ...; Historie of foure-footed beasts	Topsell, Edward, 1572-1625?; Topsell, Edward, 1572-1625? Historie of serpents.; Gesner, Konrad, 1516-1565. Historia animalium Liber 1. English.; Gesner, Konrad, 1516-1565. Historia animalium Liber 5. English.; Moffett, Thomas, 1553-1604. Insectorum sive minimorum animalium theatrum. English.; Rowland, John, M.D.	1658 (1658)	Wing G624; ESTC R6249	1,956,367	1,026

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

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 ●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 thi●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

the Italians Montone and Ariete the Spaniards Carnero the Helvetians Ramchen the Grecians in ancient time Krios Ariacha Ceraste and now in these days Kriare the Hebrews Ail or Eel the Chaldees plurally Dikerin the Arabians Kabsa and the Persians Nerameisch Now concerning the Greek and Latine names there is some difference among the learned about their notation etymology or derivation for although they all agree that Aries est dux maritus pecorum yet they cannot consent from what root stem or fountain to fetch the same Isidorus bringeth Aries ab aris that is from the Altars because the sacrificing of this beast was among all other Sheep permitted and none but this except the Lambs Others derive it of Aretes which signineth vertue because that the strength and vigor of Sheep lyeth in this above all other for there is in his horns incredible strength in his minde or inwards part incredible courage and magnanimity but the truest derivation is from the Greek word Mrati●s Some Latines call him also Nefrens and plurally Nefrendes for distinction from the Weather or gelded Sheep for the stones were also called Nefrendes and Nebrundines and the Epithets of this Beast are horn-bearer insolent violent fighting fearful writhen swift wooll-bearer leaping head-long warriour and in Greek meek gentle and familiar and is not known by the name Ctilos for that it leadeth the whole flock to the pastures and back again to the folds And thus much may suffice for the name and demonstrative appellation of this Beast now we will proceed forward to the other parts of his story not reiterating those things which it hath in common with the Sheep already described but only touching his special and inseparable proper qualities First of all for the election of Rams fit to be the father of the flock and to generate and increase issue and therefore Varro and others call him Admissarius Aries a stallion Ram. They were wont to make choise of such an one from an Ewe that had brought forth twins for that it is conceived he will also multiply twins for first in the choise of a Ram they look unto his breed and stock from whence he is descended and then to his form and outward parts as in Horses Oxen Dogs Lions and almost all creatures there are races and stocks preferred one before another so is it also in Sheep and therefore require that he be Boni seminis pecus a Ram of a good breed and next of the form and outward parts although some never look further then colour but Columella adviseth that his wooll palate of his mouth and tongue be all of one colour for if the mouth and tongue be spotted such also will be the issue and Lambs he begetteth for we have shewed you already that the Lamb for the most part followeth the colour of the Rams mouth such a Ram is th●● described by the Poet. Illum autem quamvis aries sit candidus ipse Nigra subest udo tantum cui lingua palato Rejice ne maculis infuscet vellera pullis Nascentum And therefore for as much as the young ones do commonly resemble the father and bear some notes of his colour let your Ram be all black or all white and in no case party-coloured and for the stature and habit of his body let it be tall and straight a large belly hanging down and well cloathed with wooll a tail very long and rough a broad fore-head large stones crooked winding horns toward his snowt having his ears covered with wooll a large breast broad shoulders and buttocks his fleece pressed close to his body and the wooll not thin nor standing up And for the horns although in all Regions Rams have not horns yet for windy and cold Countries the great horned Beasts are to be preferred for that they are better able through that defence to bear off winde and weather yet if the climate be temperate and warm it is better to have a Ram without horns because the horned Beast being not ignorant what weapons he beareth on his head is apter to fight then the pold Sheep and also more luxurious among the Ewes for he will not endure a rival or companion-husband although his own strength and nature cannot cover them all but the pold Ram on the other side is not ignorant how naked and bare and unarmed is his head and therefore like a true coward sleepeth in a whole skin being nothing so harmful to his corrivals nor to the females but well indureth partnership in the work of generation There is no Beast in the world that somuch participateth with the nature of the Sun as the Ram for from the Autumnal Aequinoctium unto the Vernal as the Sun keepeth the right hand of the Hemisphere so doth the Ram lie upon his right side and in the Summer season as the Sun keepeth the other hand of the Hemisphere so doth the Ram lie upon his other side And for this cause the Lybians which worshipped Ammon that is the Sun did picture him with a great pair of Rams horns Also although in the heavenly or celestial sphere or Zodiack there be nothing first or last yet the Egyptians have placed the Ram in the first place for their Astronomers affirm that they have found out by diligent calculation that the same day which was the beginning of the worlds light on the face of the Earth then was the sign Aries in the midst of Heaven and because the middle of Heaven is as it were the crown or upper-most part of the World therefore the Ram hath the first and uppermost place because it is an Equinoctial sign making the days and nights of epual length for twice in the year doth the Sun pass through that sign the Ram sitting as it were judge and arbiter twice every year betwixt the day and night There be Poetical fictions how the Ram came into the Zodiack for some say that when Bacchus led his Army through the Deserts of Lybia wherein they were all ready to perish for water there appeared to him a goodly Ram who shewed him a most beautiful and plentiful fountain which relieved and preserved them all afterward Bacchus in remembrance of that good turn erected a Temple to Jupiter Ammonius also in that place for so quenching their thirst placed there his Image with Rams horns and translated that Ram into the Zodiack among the Stars that when the Sun should pass through that sign all the creatures of the world should be fresh green and lively for the same cause that he had delivered him and his Hoast from perishing by thirst and made him the Captain of all the residue of the signes for that he was an able and wise Leader of Souldiers Other again tell the tale somewhat different for they say At what time Bacchus ruled Egypt there came to him one A 〈…〉 n a great rich man in Africa giving to Bacchus great store of wealth and cattel to

the Jews are compared to Asps and their labours to Spiders webs And Esa 11. The sucking childe shall play upon the hole of the Asp Whereupon a learned man thus writeth Qui●unque ex h●minibus occulto veneno ad nocendum referti sunt sub regno Christi mutato ingenio fore velpueris innoxios that is whosoever by secret poyson of nature are apt to do harm to other in the Kingdom of Christ their nature shall be so changed that they shall not harm sucklings not able to discover them Great is the subtilty and fore-knowledge of Asps as may appear by that in Psal 58. against the Charmers voyce As also it is strange that all the Asps of Nilus do thirty days before the flood remove themselves and their young ones into the Mountains and this is done yearly once at the least if not more often They sort themselves by couples and do live as it were in marriage Male and Female so that their sense affection and compassion is one and the same for if it happen that one of them be killed they follow the person eagerly and will finde him out even in the midst of many of his fellows that is if the killer be a beast they will know him among beasts of the same kinde and if he be a man they will also finde him out among men and if he be let alone he will not among thousands harm any but he breaking through all difficulties except water and is hindred by nothing else except by swift flying away We have shewed already how the Psyllians in Asia cast their children newly born to Serpents because if they be of the right seed and kindred to their Father no Serpent will hurt them but if they be Bastards of another race the Serpents devour them these Serpents are to be understood to be Asps Asps also we have shewed were destroyed by the Argol● which Alexander brought from Argos to Alexandria and therefore those are to be reckoned their enemies Shadows do also scare away terrifie Asps as Seneca writeth But there is not more mortal hatred or deadly war betwixt any then betwixt the Ichneumon and the Asp When the Ichneumon hath espyed an Asp she first goeth and calleth her fellows to help her then they all before they enter fight do wallow their bodies in slime or wet themselves and then wallow in the sand so har●essing and as it were arming their skins against the teeth of their enemy and so when they finde themselves strong enough they set upon her bristling up their tails first of all and turning to the Serpent till the Asp bite at them and then sodainly ere the Asp can recover with singular celerity they flie to her chaps and tear her in pieces but the victory of this combate resteth in anticipation for if the Asp first bite the Ichneumon then is he overcome but if the Ichneumon first lay hold on the Asp then is the Asp overcome This hatred and contention is thus described by Nicander Solus eam potis est Ichneumon vincere pestem Cum grave cautus ei bellum parat editaque ova Quae fovet in multorum hominum insuperabile lethum Omnia fiacta terit mordaceque dente lacessit That is to say Ichneumon only is of strength that pest to overquell Gainst whom in wary wise his war he doth prepare Her egges a deadly death to many men in sand he doth out smell To break them all within his teeth this nimble beast doth dare Pliny Cardan and Constantine affirm that the herb Arum and the root of Winterberry do so astonish Asps that their presence layeth them in a deadly sleep and thus much of their concord with other creatures Galen writeth that the Marsians do eat Asps without all harm although as Mercurial saith their whole flesh and body is so venomous and so repleat with poyson that it never entereth into medicine or is applyed to sick or sound upon any Physical qualification the reason of this is given by himself and Fracastorius to be either because Asps under their Climate or Region are not venomous at all as in other Countries neither Vipers nor Serpents are venomous or else because those people have a kinde of sympathy in nature with them by reason whereof they can receive no poyson from them The poyson of Asps saith Moses Deut. 32. is crudele venenum a cruel poyson and Job 20. cap. expressing the wicked mans delight in evil saith That he shall suck the poyson of Asps For which cause as we have shewed already the harm of this is not easily cured We read that Canopus the Master of Menelaus ship to be bittten to death by an Asp at Canopus in Egypt So also was Demetrius Ph 〈…〉 a Scholar of Theophrastus and the Keeper of the famous Library of Ptolemaeus Seter Cleopatra likewise to avoid the triumph that Augustus would have made of her suffered her self willingly to be bitten to death by an Asp Wheeupon Propertius writeth thus Brachia spectavi sacris ●dmorsa colubris Et trahere occultum membra soporis iter In English thus Thus I have seen those wounded arms With sacred Snakes bitten deep And members draw their poysoned harms Treading the way of deaths sound sleep We read also of certain Mountebanks and cunning Juglers in Italy called Circulatores to perish by their own devises through the eating of Serpents and Asps which they carryed about in Boxes as tame using them for ostentation to get Money or to sell away their Antidotes When Po 〈…〉 peius Rufus was the great Master of the Temple-works at Rome there was a certain Circulator or Quacksalver to shew his great cunning in the presence of many other of his own trade which set to his arm an Asp presently he sucked out the poyson out of the wound with his mouth but when he came to look for his preservative water or antidote he could not finde it by means whereof the poyson fell down into his body his mouth and gums rotted presently by little and little and so within two days he was found dead The like story unto this is related by Amb. Paraeus of another which at Florence would fain sell much of his medicine against poyson and for that purpose suffered an Asp to bite his flesh or finger but within four hours after he perished notwithstanding all his antidotical preservatives Now therefore it remaineth that we add in the conclusion of this History a particular discourse of the bitings and venom of this Serpent and also of such remedies as are appointed for the same Therefore we are to consider that they bite and do not sting the females bite with four teeth the males but with two and when they have opened the flesh by biting then they infuse their poyson into the wound Only the Asp Pty●s killeth by spitting venom through her teeth and as Avicen saith the savour or smell thereof will kill but at the least the

earth for it is certain that it liveth in both elements namely earth and water and for the time that it abideth in the water it also taketh air and not the humor or moistnesse of the water yet can they not want either humor of the water or respiration of the air and for the day time it abideth on the land and in the night in the water because in the day the earth is hotter then the water and in the night the water warmer then the earth and while it liveth on the land it is so delighted with the Sun-shine and lyeth therein so immoveable that a man would take it to be stark dead The eyes of a Crocodile as we have said are dull and blinde in the water yet they appear bright to others for this cause when the Egyptians will signifie the Sun-rising they picture a Crocodile looking upward to the earth and when they will signifie the West they picture a Crocodile diving in the water and so for the most part the Crocodile lyeth upon the banks that he may either dive into the water with speed or ascend to the earth to take his prey By reason of the shortnesse of his feet his pace is very slow and therefore it is not only easie to escape from him by flight but also if a man do but turn aside and winde out of the direct way his body is so unable to bend it self that he can neither winde nor turn after it When they go under the earth into their caves like to all fore-footed and egge-breeding Serpents as namely Lizards Stellions and Tortoises they have all their legs joyned to their sides which are so retorted as they may bend to either side for the necessity of covering their egges but when they are abroad and go bearing up all their bodies then they bend only outward making their thighs more visible It is somewhat questionable whether they lye hid within their caves four months or sixty days for some Authors affirm one thing and some another but the reason of the difference is taken from the condition of the cold weather for which cause they lye hid in the Winter time Now forasmuch as the Winter in Egypt is not usually above four months therefore it is taken that they lie but four months but if it be by accident of cold weather prolonged longer then for the same cause the Crocodile is longer time in the earth During the time they lie hid they eat nothing but sleep as it is thought immoveably and when they come out again they do not cast their skins as other Serpents do The tail of a Crocodile is his strongest part and they never kill any beast or man but first of all they strike him down and astonish him with their tails and for this cause the Egyptians by a Crocodiles tail do signifie death and darknesse They devour both men and beasts if they finde them in their way or neer the bankes of Nilus wherein they abide taking sometimes a calf from the Cow his Dam and carrying it whole into the waters And it appeareth by the pourtraiture of Neacles that a Crocodile drew in an Asse into Nilus as he was drinking and therefore the Dogs of Egypt by a kinde of natural instinct do not drink but as they run for fear of the Crocodiles where-upon came the proverb Vt Canis è Nilo bibit fugit as a Dog at one time drinketh and runneth by Nilus When they desire fishes they put their heads out of the water as it were to sleep and then suddenly when they espy a booty they leap into the waters upon them and take them After that they have eaten and are satisfied then they turn to the land again and as they lie gaping upon the earth the little bird Trochilus maketh clean their teeth and is satisfied by the remainders of the flesh sticking upon them It is also affirmed by Arnoldus that it is fed with mud but the holy Crocodile in the Provinte of Arsinoe is fed with bread flesh wine sweet and hard sod flesh and cakes and such like things as the poor people bring unto it when they come to see it When the Egyptians will write a man eating or at dinner they paint a Crocodile gaping They are exceeding fruitful and prolifical and therefore also in Hieroglyphicks they are made to signifie fruitfulnesse They bring forth every year and lay their egges in the earth or dry land For during the space of theescore days they lay every day an Egge and in the like space they are hatched into young ones by sitting or lying upon them by course the male one while and the female another The time of their hatching is in a moderate and temperate time otherwise they perish and come to nothing for extremity of heat spoyleth the egge as the buds of some trees are burned and scorched off by the like occasion The egge is not much greater then the egge of a Goose and the young one out of the shell is of the same proportion And so from such a small beginning doth this huge and monstrous Serpent grow to his great stature the reason whereof saith Aristotle is because it groweth all his life long even to the length of ten or more cubits When it hath laid the egges it carryeth them to the place where it shall be hatched for by a natural providence and forelight it avoideth the waters of Nilus and therefore ever layeth her egges beyond the compasse of her floods by observation whereof the people of Egypt know every year the inundation of Nilus before it happen And in the measure of this place it is apparent that this Beast is not indued only with a spirit of reason but also with a fatidical or prophetical geographical delineation for so she placeth her egges in the brim or bank of the flood before the flood cometh that the water may cover the nest but not her self that sitteth upon the egges And the like to this is the building of the Beaver as we have showed in due place before in the History of four-footed Beasts So soon as the young ones are hatched they instantly fall into the depth of the water but if they meet with Frog Snail or any other such thing fit for their meat they do presently tear it in pieces the dam biteth it with her mouth as it were punishing the pusillanimity thereof but if it hunt greater things and be greedy ravening industrious and bloudy that she maketh much of and killing the other nourisheth and tendereth this above measure after the example of the wisest men who love their children in judgement fore-seeing their industrious inclination and not in affection without regard of worth vertue or merit It is said by Philes that after the egge is laid by the Crocodile many times there is a cruel stinging Scorpion which cometh out thereof and woundeth the Crocodile that laid it To conclude they never

have but very small lungs and those without bloud full of froth like to all other creatures of the water which do lay egges and for this cause they do never thirst wherefore also Sea-calves and Frogs are able to live long under the water They have a double Liver and a very small milt their legs behinde are long which maketh them apt to leap before they are shorter having divided claws which are joyned together with a thin broad skin that maketh them more apt to swim The most place of their abode is in fens or in warm waters or in fish-pools but yellow and ash-coloured Frogs abide in Rivers Lakes and standing Pools but in the Winter time they all hide themselves in the earth And therefore it is not true that Pliny saith that in the Winter time they are resolved into slime and in Summer they resume again their first bodies for they are to be seen many times in the Winter especially in those waters that are never frozen as Agrecolaand Mathiolus hath soundly observed and they have been seen in certain running streams holding small fishes in their mouths as it were sucking meat out of them Sometimes they enter into their holes in Autumn before Winter and in the Spring time come out again When with their croaking voyces the male provoketh the female to carnal copulation which he performeth not by the mouth as some have thought but by covering her back the instrument of generation meeting in the hinder parts and this they perform in the night season nature teaching them the modesty or shamefastnesse of this action And besides in that time they have more security to give themselves to mutual imbraces because of a general quietnesse for men and all other their adversaries are then at sleep and rest After their copulation in the waters there appeareth a thick jelly out of which the young one is found But the land Frogs are ingendered out of Egs of whom we discourse at this present and therefore they both suffer copulation lay their Egges and bring forth young ones on the land When the Egge breaketh or is hatched there cometh forth a little black thing like a piece of flesh which the Latines call Gyrini from the Greek word Gyrinos having no visible part of a living creature upon them besides their eyes and their tails and within short space after their feet are formed and their tail divided into two parts which tail becometh their hinder-legs wherefore when the Aegyptians would describe a man that cannot move himself and afterwards recovereth his motion they decipher him by a Frog having his hinder-legs The heads of these young Gyrini which we call in English Horse-nails because they resemble a Horse-nail in their similitude whose head is great and the other part small for with his tail he swimmeth After May they grow to have feet and if before that time they be taken out of the water they die when they begin to have four feet And first of all they are of a black colour and round and hereof came the Proverb Rana Gyrina sapientior wiser then a Horse-nail because through the roundnesse and volubility of his body it turneth it self with wonderful celerity which way soever it pleaseth These young ones are also called by the Grecians Molurida Brutichoi and Batrachidae but the Latines have no name for it except Ranunculus or Rana nasoens And it is to be remembred that one Frog layeth an innumerable company of Egges which cleave together in the water in the middle whereof she her self lodgeth And thus much may suffice for the ordinary procreation of Frogs by generation out of Egges In the next place I must also shew how they are likewise ingendered out of the dust of the earth by warm aestive and Summer showers whose life is short and there is no use of them Aelianus saith that as he travailed out of Italy into Naples he saw divers Frogs by the way near Puteoli whose fore-part and head did move and creep but their hinder-part was unformed and like to the slime of the earth which caused Ovid to write thus Semina limus habet virides generantia Ranas Et generat truncas pedibus eodem corpore saepe Altera pars vivit rudis est pars altera tellus That is to say Durt hath his seed ingendring Frogs full green Yet so as feetlesse without legs on earth they lie So as a wonder unto passengers is seen One part hath life the other earth full dead is nye And of these Frogs it is that Pliny was to be understood when he saith that Frogs in the Winter time are resolved into slime and in the Summer they recover their life and substance again It is certain also that sometime it raineth Frogs as may appear by Philarchus and Lembus for Lembus writeth thus Once about Dardania and Paeonia it rained Frogs in such plentiful measure or rather prodigious manner that all the houses and high ways were filled with them and the Inhabitants did first of all kill them but afterwards perceiving no benefit thereby they shut their doores against them and stopped up all their lights to exclude them out of their houses leaving no passage open so much as a Frog might creep into and yet notwithstanding all this diligence their meat seething on the fire or set on the table could not be free from them but continually they found Frogs in it so as at last they were inforced to forsake that Countrey It was likewise reported that certain Indians and people of Arabia were inforced to forsake their Countries through the multitude of Frogs Cardan seemeth to finde a reason in nature for this raining of Frogs the which for the better satisfaction of the Reader I will here expresse as followeth Fiunt haec omnia ventorum ira and so forward in his 16. Book De Subtilitate that is to say these prodigious rains of Frogs and Mice little fishes and stones and such like things is not to be wondered at for it cometh to passe by the rage of the windes in the tops of the Mountains or the uppermost part of the Seas which many times taketh up the dust of the earth and congealeth them into stones in the air which afterwards fall down in rain so also doth it take up Frogs and Fishes who being above in the air must needs fall down again Sometimes also it taketh up the egges of Frogs and Fishes which being kept aloft in the air among the whirl-windes and storms of shewers do there engender and bring forth young ones which afterwards fall down upon the earth there being no pool for them in the air These and such like reasons are approved among the learned for natural causes of the prodigious raining of Frogs But we read in holy Scripture among the plagues of Egypt that Frogs were sent by God to annoy them and therefore whatsoever is the material cause it is most certain that the wrath of God and his Almighty