Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	aforesaid_a	king_n	say_a	1,670	5	6.7912	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

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

with a false appearance as the flattering love of Harlots doe simple mindes by fained protestations Of the GVLON THis Beast was not known by the Ancients but hath been since discovered in the Northern parts of the World and because of the great voracity thereof it is called Gulo that is a devourer in imitation of the Germans who call such devouring creatures Vilsiuss and the Swedians Gerff in Lituania and Muscovia it is called Rossomokal It is thought to be engendered by a Hyaena and a Lioness for in quality it resembleth a Hiaena and it is the same which is called Crocuta it is a devouring and an unprofitable creature having sharper teeth then other creatures Some think it is derived of a Wolf and a Dog for it is about the bigness of a Dog it hath the face of a Cat the body and tail of a Fox being black of colour his feet and nails be most sharp his skin rusty the hair very sharp and it feedeth upon dead carkases When it hath found a dead carkass he eateth thereof so violently that his belly standeth out like a bell then he seeketh for some narrow passage betwixt two trees and there draweth through his body by pressing whereof he driveth out the meat which he had eaten and being so emptied returneth and devoureth as much as he did before and goeth again and emptieth himself as in former manner and so continueth eating and emptying till all be eaten It may be that God hath ordained such a creature in those Countries to express the abominable gluttony of the men of that Countrey that they may know their true deformed nature and lively ugly figure represented in this Monster eatingbeast for it is the fashion of the Noble men in those parts to sit from noon till midnight eating and drinking and never rise from the table but to disgorge their stomachs or ease their bellies and then return with refreshed appetites to ingurgitate and consume more of Gods creatures wherein they grow to such a heighth of beastliness that they lose both sense and reason and know no difference between head and tail Such they are in Muscovia in Lituania and most shameful of all in Tartaria These things are reported by Olaus Magnus and Mathias Michou But I would to God that this same more then beastly intemperate gluttony had been circumscribed and confined within the limits of those unchristian or heretical-apostatical countries and had not spread it self and infected our more civil and Christian parts of the World so should not Nobility Society Amity good fellowship neighbourhood and honesty be ever placed upon drunken or gluttonous companions or any man be commended for bibbing and sucking in Wine and Beer like a Swine When in the mean season no spark of grace or Christianity appeareth in them which notwithstanding they take upon them being herein worse then Beasts who still reserve the notes of their nature and preserve their lives but these lose the markes of humanity reason memory and sense with the conditions of their families applying themselves to consume both patrimony and pence in this voracity and forget the Badges of Christians offering sacrifice to nothing but their bellies The Church forsaketh them the spirit accurseth them the civil world abhorreth them the Lord condemneth them the Devil expecteth them and the fire of Hell it self is prepared for them and all such devourers of Gods good creature To help their digestion for although the Hiena and Gulon and some other monsters are subject to this gluttony yet are there many creatures more in the world who although they be Beasts and lack reason yet can they not by any famine stripes or provocations be drawn to exceed their natural appetites or measure in eating or drinking There are of these Beasts two kindes distinguished by colour one black and the other like a Wolf they seldom kill a Man or any live Beasts but feed upon carrion and dead carkasses as is before said yet sometimes when they are hungry they prey upon Beasts as Horses and such like and then they subtilly ascend up into a tree and when they see a Beast under the same they leap down upon him and destroy him A Bear is afraid to meet them and unable to match them by reason of their sharp teeth This Beast is tamed and nourished in the Courts of Princes for no other cause then for an example of incredible voracity When he hath filled his belly if he can finde no trees growing so near together as by sliding betwixt them he may expel his excrements then taketh he an Alder-tree and with his fore-feet rendeth the same asunder and passeth through the midst of it for the cause aforesaid When they are wilde men kill them with bows and gins for no other cause than for their skins which are precious and profitable for they are white spotted changeably interlined like divers flowers for which cause the greatest Princes and richest Nobles use them in garments in the Winter time such are the Kings of Polonia Sweveland Goatland and the Princes of Germany neither is their any skin which will sooner take a colour or more constantly retain it The outward appearance of the said skin is like to a damaskt garment and besides this outward part there is no other memorable thing worthy observation in this ravenous Beast and therefore in Germany it is called a four-footed Vulture Of the GORGON or strange Lybian Beast AMong the manifold and divers sorts of Beasts which are bred in Africk it is thought that the Gorgon is brought forth in that Countrey It is a fearful and terrible beast to behold it it hath high and thick eye-lids eyes not very great but much like an Oxes or Bugils but all flery-bloudy which neither look directly forward nor yet upwards but continually down to the earth and therefore are called in Greek Catobleponta From the crown of their head down to their nose they have a long hanging mane which make them to look fearfully It eateth deadly and poysonful herbs and if at any time he see a Bull or other creature whereof he is afraid he presently causeth his mane to stand upright and being so lifted up opening his lips and gaping wide sendeth forth of his throat a certain sharp and horrible breath which infecteth and poysoneth the air above his head so that all living creatures which draw in the breath of that air are grievously afflicted thereby losing both voyce and sight they fall into lethal and deadly Convulsions It is bred in Hesperia and Lybia The Poets have a fiction that the Gorgones were the daughters of Midusa and Phoroynis and are called Stringo and by Hesiodus Sthenp and Euryale inhabiting the Gorgadian Islands in the Aethiopick Ocean over against the gardens of Hesperia Medusa is said to have the hairs of her head to be living Serpents against whom Perseus fought and cut off her head for which cause he was placed in

nymphae Aegeriae nemo●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 equ● 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

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 Fla● 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 s●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 wa● 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 stumbl● 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

translated yet herein I refer it to the learned Reader It is certain that it is of the kinde of wilde Goats by the description of it differing in nothing but this that the hair groweth averse not like other Beasts falling backward to his hinder parts but forward toward his head and so also it is affirmed of the Aethiopian Bull which some say is the Rhinocerot They are bred both in Lybia and Egypt and either of both Countries yeeldeth testimony of their rare and proper qualities In quantity it resembleth a Roe having a beard under his chin His colour white or pale like milk his mouth black and some spots upon his cheeks his back-bone reaching to his head being double broad and fat his horns standing upright black and so sharp that they cannot be blunted against brass or iron but pierce through it readily Aristotle and Pliny were of opinion that this Beast was Bisulcus and Vnicornis that is cloven-footed and with one horn The original of their opinion came from the wilde-one-horned-goat whereof Schnebergerus a late Writer writeth thus Certum est minineque dubium in Carpathomonte versus Russian Transylvaniamque reperiri feras similes omnino rupicapris excepto quod unicum cornu ex 〈◊〉 fronte enascitur nigrum dorso inflexum simile omnino rupicaprarum cornibus that is to say It is without all controversie that there are wilde Beasts in the Mountain Carpathus towards Russia and Tran●ylvania very like to wilde Goats except that they have but one horn growing out of the middle of their heads which is black and bending backward like the horns of wilde Goats But the true Oryx is described before out of Oppianus and it differeth from that of Pliny both in stature and horns Aelianus saith that the Oryx hath four horns but he speaketh of the Indian Oryx whereof there are some yearly presented to their King and it may be both there and elsewhere diversity of regions do breed diversity of stature colour hair and horns Simeon Sethi affirmeth of the Musk-cat that it hath one horn and it is not unlikely that he hath seen such an one and that the Oryx may be of that kinde But concerning their horns it is related by Herodotus Pollux and Laur. Valla that there were made instruments of musick out of them such as are Citherns or Lutes upon whose bellies the Musitians played their Musick by striking them with their hands and that those Beasts were as great as Oxen and all this may be true notwithstanding we have shewed already that they are as big as Roes for Pliny speaking that by relation or by sight it is likely that he had seen a young one There be also Sea-beasts called Oryges and Orcae and there is in Egypt an Oryx which at the rising of Ganis Syrius or the little Dog is perpetually sorrowful and this cause the Lybians to mock the Egyptians for that they fable the same day that the little Dog-star riseth their Oryx speaketh But on the contrary themselves acknowledge that as often as the said Star ariseth with the Sun all their Goats turn to the East and look upon it and this observation of the Goats is as certain as any rule of the Astronomers The Lybians affirm more that that they do presage great store of rain and change of weather The Egyptians also say that when the Moon cometh near to the East they look very intentively upon her as upon their soveraign Goddess and make a great noise and yet they say they do it not for her love but for her hate which appeareth by knocking their legs against the ground and fastening their eyes upon the earth like them which are angry at the Moons appearance And the self same thing they do at the rising of the Sun For which cause the ancient Kings had an observer or one to tell them the time of the day sitting upon one of these Beasts whereby very accurately they perceived the Sun rising and this they did by turning their tail against it and emptying their bellies for which cause by an Oryx the Egyptians discipher an impure or godless wretch for seeing that all creatures are nourished by the Sun and Moon and therefore ought to rejoyce at their appearing only this filthy wretch disdaineth and scorneth them The reason why they rejoyce at the little Dog-star is because their bodies do perceive an evident alteration of the time of the year that cold weather and rain are over-passed and that the vapors of the warm Sun are now descending upon the earth to clothe it with all manner of green and pleasant herbs and flowers There is another kinde of Oryx which according to Columella was wont to be impaled among Deer and Harts the flesh whereof was eaten and used for the commodity of his Master This was impatient of cold It grew till it was four years old and afterwards through age decreased and lost all natural vigor But to return to the Oryx intended from which we have digressed their horns whereof we late spake are not only strong and sharp like the horn of the Unicorn and the Rhinocerot but also solid and not hollow like the horns of Harts The courage and inward disposition of this Beast is both fearful cruel and valiant I mean fearful to Men and Beasts but fearless in it self For saith my Author Neque enim Canis latratum timel neque apri effervescentem seritatem neque tauri mugitum refugii neque Pantherarum tristem vocem neque ipsius Leonis vehementem rugitum horret neque item hominuni robore movetur ac saepe robustum venatorem occidit That is to say He feareth not the barking of the Dog nor the foaming wrath of the wilde Boar he flyeth not the terrible voyce of the Bull nor yet the mournful cry of the Panthers no nor the vehement roaring of the Lion himself and to conclude he is not moved for all the strength of man but many times killeth the valiantest hunter that pursueth him When he seeth a Boar a Lion or a Bear presently he bendeth his horns down to the earth whereby he conformeth and establisheth his head to receive the brunt standing in that manner until the assault be made at which time he easily killeth his adversary for by bending down his head and setting his horns to receive the Beast he behaveth himself as skilfully as the Hunter that receiveth a Lion upon his spear For his horns do easily run into the breasts of any wilde Beast and so piercing them causeth the bloud to issue whereat the Beast being moved forgetteth his combate and falleth to licking up his own bloud and so he is easily overthrown When the fight is once begun there is none of both that may run away but standeth it out until one or both of them be slain to the ground and so their dead bodies are found by wilde and savage men They fight with all and kill one another also they are annoyed with Linces I

or warmth then in other whose leaves fall off and decay in the cold weather except in the roots of Birth And by reason of their multitude gathered together at the root of this tree it falleth out that their breath heateth the same and so preserveth the leaves from falling off Wherefore in ancient time the ignorant multitude seeing a Birch tree with green leaves in the Winter did call it our Ladies Tree or a holy tree attributing that greenness to miracle not knowing the former reason or secret in Nature Solinus reporteth of such a like Wood in a part of Africa where in all the Winter time the leaves of all the trees abide green the cause is as before recited for that the Serpents living at the roots of the trees in the earth do heat them with their breath Neither ought any man to wonder that they should so friendly live together especially in the Winter and cold time seeing that by experience in England we know that for warmth they will creep into bed-straw and about the legs of men in their sleep as may appear by this succeeding discourse of a true history done in England in the house of a worshipful Gentleman upon a servant of his whom I could name if it were needful He had a servant that grew very lame and feeble in his legs and thinking that he could never be warm in his bed did multiply his clothes and covered himself more and more but all in vain till at length he was not able to go about neither could any skill of Physitian or Chirurgeon finde out the cause It hapned on a day as his Master leaned at his Parlour window he saw a great Snake to slide along the house side and to creep into the chamber of this lame man then lying in his bed as I remember for he lay in a low chamber directly against the Parlour window aforesaid The Gentleman desirous to see the issue and what the Snake would do in the chamber followed and looked into the chamber by the window where he espyed the Snake to slide up into the bed-straw by some way open in the bottom of the bed which was of old boards Straightway his heart rising thereat he called two or three of his servants and told them what he had seen bidding them go take their Rapiers and kill the said Snake The serving men came first and removed the lame man as I remember and then the one of them turned up the bed and the other two the straw their master standing without at the hole whereinto the said Snake had entered into the chamber The bed was no sooner turned up and the Rapier thrust into the straw but there issued forth five or six great Snakes that were lodged therein Then the serving-men bestirring themselves soon dispatched them and cast them out of doors dead Afterward the lame Mans legs recovered and became as strong as ever they were whereby did evidently appear the coldness of these Snakes or Serpents which came close to his legs every night did so benum them as he could not go And thus for heat they pierce into the holes of chimneys yea into the tops of hills and houses much more into the bottoms and roots of trees When they perceive that Winter approacheth they finde out their resting places wherein they lie half dead four months together until the Spring sun again communicating her heat to all Creatures reviveth and as it were raiseth them up from death to life During which time of cold Winter as Seneca writeth Tuto tractari postifera Serpens potest non desunt tuno illi venena sed 〈◊〉 They may be safely handled without fear of harm not because they want poyson at that time but because they are drouzy and deadly astonished But there is a question whether when they be in this secresie or drouziness they awake not to eat or else their sleep be unto them in stead of food Olaus Magnus affirmeth of the Northern Serpents that they eat not at all but are nourished with sleep Cardan saith that they take some little food as appeareth by those which are carryed up and down in boxes to be seen and are fed with bran or cheasil But this may be answered that Serpents in boxes are not so cold as those in Woods and Deserts and therefore seeing cold keepeth them from eating the external heat of the box-house or humane body which beareth them about may be a cause that inclosed Serpents feed in Winter as well as in Summer and yet the Serpents which run wilde in the fields eat nothing at all during the time of their Chias or Ehiaus that is their lying hid Grevinus that learned man proponeth this question Si Serpentes calidi sunt qui fit ut integros tr●t aut quatuor menses id est toto illo tempore quo delitescunt absque cibo vivunt If saith he Serpents be hot how cometh it to pass that they can live three or four moneths without all food that is all the time of their lying secret He maketh in my opinion a sufficient answer to this question which for me shall conclude the cause saying Doth it not fall out with Serpents as it doth with some women who being full of humor and thick phlegmatick matter have but a little and weak natural heat yet proportionable to the said humor do live a great time by reason thereof without food or nourishment And for this cause all the hoasts of Philosophers do define that Serpents do also abstain from eating a long season For Nature hath clothed them with a more solid skin and lined them with a more thick and substantial flesh to the intent that their natural heat should not easily vanish away and decay in their bodies but remain therein permanent for the feeding and preserving of life When they sleep they seem to sleep with open eyes which is elegantly described by Philes in these Greek verses Opos kathéude kai dokei palin blepein Ophis te kai ptox ka● thumou pleres león Epipetatai gar he chlamys ton ommaton Allou tinos Chitonos hapaloterou Phrorountos autois os dioptras task-óras Which may be Englished thus How can the Hare the Serpent and the Lion bold Both sleep and see together at one time Within their eye-lids a soft skin their sight doth fold Shilding their apples as glass doth weakened eyne The food of Serpents that is permitted them by God is the dust of the earth as may appear by that first and just sentence which GOD himself gave upon them for seducing our first Parents Ad 〈…〉 and Eve Gen. 3. 14. Because thou hast done this thing thou art accursed above all the Beasts of the field for thou shalt go upon thy belly and eat dust all the days of thy life And again Esay 65. 25. Dust shall be me●t to the Serpent And lest that we should think that this curse hath not taken hold upon the Serpent we may finde the