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
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 ãâã 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 trât 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 kaâ 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 ãâ¦ã 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 meât to the Serpent And lest that we should think that this curse hath not taken hold upon the Serpent we may finde the
reins if it be given in a glyster and likewise the fat of a Dog and a Badger mingled together do loosen contracted sinews The ashes of a Badger is found to help the bleeding of the stomach and the same sod and drunk preventeth danger by the biting of a mad Dog and Brunfelsius affirmeth that if the bloud of a Badger be instilled into the horns of Cattel with salt it keepeth them from the murrain and the same dryed and beat to powder doth wonderfully help the Leprosie The brain sod with oil easeth all aches the liver taken out of water helpeth swellings in the mouth and some affirm that if one wear soles made of Badgers skins in their shooes it giveth great ease unto the Gowt The biting of this beast is venemous because it feedeth upon all venemous meats which creep upon the earth although Arnoldus be of a contrary judgement and of this beast I can report no other thing worth the noting save that the Noble family of the Taxons in Ferraria took their name from this creature Of the BEAR A Bear is called in the Hebrew Dob and plurally Dubim of the Arabians Dubbe of the Chaldeons Duba Aldub and Daboube of the Grecians Arctos of some Dasyllis because of the roughness of his hair of other Beiros and Monios signifying a solitary Bear The Latins call him Vrsur which some conjecture to be tanquam orsus signifying that it is but begun to be framed in the dams belly and perfected after the littering thereof The Italians call it Orso so also the Spaniards the French Ours the Germans Bear and Beer the Bohemians Nedwed the Polonians Vuluver and the attributes of this beast are many among Authors both Greek and Latin as Aemonian Bears armed filthy deformed cruel dreadful fierce greedy Calydonian Erymanthean bloudy heavy night ranging Lybican menacing Numidian Ossean head-long ravening rigid and terrible Bear all which serve to set forth the nature hereof as shall be afterward in particular discoursed First therefore concerning several kinds of Bears it is observed that there is in general two a greater and a lesser and these lesser are more apt to clime trees then the other neither do they ever grow to so great a stature as the other Besides there are Bears which are called Amphibia because they live both on the Land and in the Sea hunting and catching fish like an Otter or Beaver and these are white coloured In the Ocean Islands towards the North there are Bears of a great stature fierce and cruel who with their fore-feet do break up the the hardest congealed Ice on the Sea or other great Waters and draw out of those holes great abundance of fishes and so in other frozen Seas are many such like having black claws living for the most part upon the Seas except tempestuous weather drive them to the Land In the Eastern parts of India there is a beast in proportion of body very like a Bear yet indued with no other quality of that kind being neither so wild nor ravenous nor strong and it is called a Formicarian Bear for God hath so provided that whereas that Countrey is abundantly annoyed with the Emmets or Ants that beast doth so prey and feed upon them that by the strength and vertuous humor of his tongue the silly poor Inhabitans are exceedingly relieved from their grievous and dangerous numbers Bears are bred in many Countreys as in the Helvetian Alpine region where they are so strong and full of courage that they can tear in pieces both Oxen and Horses for which cause the Inhabitants study by all means to take them Likewise there are Bears in Persia which do raven beyond all measure and all other so also the Bears of Numidia which are of a more elegant form and composition then the residue Profuit ergo nihil misero quod cominus ursos Figebat Numidas Albena nudus arena And whereas Pliny affirmeth that there are no Bears in Africk he mistook that Countrey for Creet and so some say that in that Island be no Wolves Vipers or other such venemous creatures whereof the Poets give a vain reason because Jupiter was born there but we know also that there be no Bears bred in England In the Countrey of Arabia from the Promontory Dira to the South are Bears which live upon eating of flesh being of a yellowish colour which do far excel all other Bears both in activity or swiftness and in quantity of body Among the Roxolani and Lituanians are Bears which being tamed are presents for Princes Aristotle in his wonders reporteth that there are white Bears in Misia which being eagerly hunted do send forth such a breath that putrifieth immediately the flesh of the Dogs and whatsoever other beast cometh within the favour thereof it maketh the flesh of them not fit to be eaten but if either men or dogs approach or come nigh them they vomit forth such abundance of phlegm that either the hunters are thereby choked or blinded Thracia also breedeth white Bears and the King of Aethiopia in his Hebrew Epistle which he wrote to the Bishop of Rome affirmeth that there are Bears in his Countrey In Muscovia are Bears both of a Snow white yellow and dusky colour and it hath been seen that the Noble womens Chariots drawn by six Horses have been covered with the skins of white Bears from the pastern to the head and as all other creatures do bring forth some white and some black so also do Bears who in general do breed and bring forth their young in all cold Countreys some of a dusky and some of a brown black colour A Bear is of a most venereous and lustful disposition for night and day the females with most ardent inflamed desires do provoke the males to copulation and for this cause at that time they are most fierce and angry Philippus Cosseus of Constance did most confidently tell me that in the Mountains of Savoy a Bear carryed a young maid into his den by violence where in venereous manner he had the carnal use of her body and while he kept her in his den he daily went forth and brought her home the best Apples and other fruits he could get presenting them unto her for her meat in very amorous sort but always when he went to forrage he rouled a huge great stone upon the mouth of his den that the Virgin should not escape away at length her parents with long search found their little Daughter in the Bears den who delivered her from that savage and beastual captivity The time of their copulation is in the beginning of Winter although sometime in Summer but such young ones seldom live yet most commonly in February or January The manner of their copulation is like to a mans the male moving himself upon the belly of the female which lyeth on the earth flat upon the back and either embraceth
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 Aâpes 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 Homâr 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
falleth an Hony-dew then will their Milk be wonderful sweet and plentiful there is no food so good for Cowes as that which is green if the Countrey will afford it especially Kie love the wet and wateryplaces although the Butter coming from the milk of such beasts is not so wholesome as that which is made of such as are feed in dryer Pastures The like care is had of their drink for although they love the coldest and clearest waters yet about their time of Calving it is much for better them to have warmer waters and therefore the Lakes which are heated and made to fome by the rain are most wholesome to them and do greatly help to ease their burden and pains in that business Pausanias reporteth a wonder in nature of the Rivers Milichus and Charadrus running through the City Patrae that all the Kie which drink of them in the Spring time do for the most part bring forth males wherefore their herdmen avoid those places at that time Kie for the most part before their Calving are dry and without milk especially about Torona They are also purged of their menstrua in greater measure then either Goats or Sheep which especially come from them a little before or after they have been with the Bull howsoever Aristotle saith that they come from them after they have been five moneths with Calf and are discerned by their urine for the urine of a Cow is the thinnest of all other These beasts are very lustful and do most eagerly desire the company of their male which if they have not within the space of three hours after they mourn for it their lust asswageth till another time In a Village of Egypt called Schussa under the government of the Hermopolites they worship Venus under the title Vrania in the shape of a Cow perswading themselves that there is great affinity betwixt the Goddesse and this beast for by her mournful voice she giveth notice of her love who receiveth the token many times a mile or two off and so presently runneth to accomplish the lust of nature and for this cause do the Egyptians picture Isis with a Cows horns and likewise a Bull to signifie hearing The signes of their Bulling as it is termed are their cries and disorderly forsaking their fellows and resisting the government of their keeper Likewise their secret hangeth forth more then at other times and they will leap upon their fellows as if they were males besides after the manner of Mares they oftner make water then at other times The most cunning heardmen have means to provoke them to desire the Bull if they be slack first of all they withdraw from them some part of their meat if they be fat for that will make them fitter to conceive then take they the geââals or stones of a Bull and hold it to their nose by smelling whereof they are provoked to desire copulation and if that prevail not then take they the tendrest part of Shrimps which is their fish and beat them in water till they be an ointment and there with anoint the breasts of the Cow after they have been well washed untill it work upon her And some affirm that the tail of an Eel put into her hath the same virtue other attribute much force to the wilde willow to procure lust and conception They are a great while in copulation and some have ghessed by certain signes at the time of copulation whether the Calf prove male or female for say they if the Bull leap down on the right side of the Cow it will be a male if on the left it will be a female which conjecture is no longer true then when the Cow admitteth but one Bull and conceiveth at the first conjunction for which cause the Egyptians decipher a woman bringing forth a maiden childe by a Bull looking to the left hand and likewise bearing a man childe by a Bull looking to the right hand They are not to be admitted to copulation before they be two year old at the least or if it may be four yet it hath been seen that a Heifer of a year old hath conceived and that another of four moneths old hath likewise desired the Bull but this was taken for a monster and the other never thrived One Bull is sufficient for fifteen Kie although Varro faith that he had but two Buls for threescore and ten Kie and one of them was two year old the other one The best time for their copulation is about the time of the Daulphins appearance and so continueth for two or three and fourty daies which is about June and July for those which conceive at that time will bring forth their young ones in a most temperate time of the year and it hath been observed that an Ok immediately after his gelding before he had forgotten his former dâsire and inclination his seed not dryed up hath filled a Cow and she proved with Calf They go with Calf ten moneths except eighteen or twenty daies but those which are Calved before that time cannot live and a Cow may bear every year if the Countrey wherein she liveth be full of grasse and the Calf taken away from her at fifteen days old And if a man desire that the Calf should be a male then let him tie the right stone of the Bull at the time oâ copulation and for a female bind the left Others work this by natural observation for when they would have a male they let their Cattel couple when the North wind bloweth and when a female they put them together when the air is Southerly They live not above fifteen years and thereof ten times they may ingender The best time to Calve in is April because then the Spring bringeth on grasse both for themselves and to increase milk for the young ones They bear not but in their right side although they have twins in their belly which happeneth very seldom and the beast immediately after her delivery must be nourished with some good meat for except she be well fed she will forsake her young to provide for her self therefore it is requisite to give her Vetches Millet-seed and milk mingled with water and scorched Corne and unto the Calves themselves dryed Millet in milk in the manner of a mash and the Kie must also be kept up in stables so as they may not touch their meat at the going forth for they are quickly brought to forsake and loath that which is continually before them and it is observed that when Kie in the Summer time do in greater number above custom go to the Bull then at other times it betokeneth and foresheweth a wet and rainy winter for it cannot be saith Albertus that a beast so dry as is a Cow can be increased in moisture which stirreth up the desire of procreation except also there be a mutation in the air unto abundance of moisture And to
given this beast in Greek and Latin bv sundry authors do demonstratively shew the manifold conditions of this beast as that it is called a Plower Wilde an earth-tiller brazen-footed by reason of his hard hoofs Cerebrous more brain then wit horned stubborn horn-stiking hard rough untamed devourer of grasse yoak-bearer fearful overtamed drudges wry-faced flow and ill favoured with many other such notes of their nature ordination and condition There remain yet of this discourse of Oxen two other necessary Tractates the one natural and the other moral That which is natural contains the several uses of their particular parts and first for their flesh which is held singular for nourishment for which cause after their labour which bringeth leanness they use to put them by for sagination or as it is said in English for feeding which in all countries hath a several manner or custom Sotion affirmeth that if you give your Cattel when they come fresh from their pasture Cabbage leaves beaten small with some sharp Vinegar poured among them and afterward chaffe winowed in a sieve and mingled with Bran for five daies together it will much fatten and encrease their flesh and the sixth day ground Barly encreasing the quantity by little and little for six daies together Now the best time to feed them in the Winter is about the Cock crowing and afterward in the morning twilight and soon after that let them drink in the Summer let them have their first meat in the morning and their second service at noon and then drink after that second meat or eating and their third meat before evening again and so let them drink the second time It is also to be observed that their water in Winter time be warmed and in the Summer time colder And while they feed you must often wash the roof and sides of her mouth for therein will grow certain Wormes which will annoy the beast and hinder his eating and after the washing rub his tongue well with salt If therefore they be carefully regarded they will grow very fat especially if they be not over aged or very young at the time of their feeding for by reason of age their teeth grow loose and fall out and in youth they cannot exceed in fatness because of their growth above all Heifers and barren Kie will exceed in fatness for Varro affirmeth that he saw a field Mouse bring forth young ones in the fat of a Cow having eaten into her body she being alive the self same thing is reported of a Sow in Arcadia Kie will also grow fat when they are with Calf especially in the middest of that time The Turks use in their greatest feasts and Mariages to roast or seethe an Ox whole putting in the Oxes belly a whole Sow and in the Sowes belly a Goose and in the Goofes belly an Egge to note forth their plenty in great and small things but the best flesh is of a young Ox and the worst of an old one for it begetteth an ill juyce or concoction especially if they which eat it be troubled with a Cough or rheumy fleam or if the party be in a Consumption or for a woman that hath ulcers in her belly the tongue of an Ox or Cow salted and slit asunder is accounted a very delicate dish which the Priests of Mercury said did belong to them because they were the servants of speach and howsoever in all sacrifices the beasts tongue was refused as a profane member yet these Priests made choise thereof under colour of sacrifice to feed their dainty stomachs The horns of Oxen by art of man are made very flexible and straight whereof are made Combes hafts for knives and the ancients have used them for cups to drink in and for this cause was Bacchus painted with horns and Crater was taken for a cup which is derived of Kera a horn In like manner the first Trumpets were made of horns as Virgil alludeth unto this sentence Rauco strepuerunt corâua cantu and now adaies it is become familiar for the cariage of Gunpowder in war It is reported by some husbandmen that if seed be cast into the earth out of an Oxes horn called in old time Cerasbola by reason of a certain coldness it will never spring up well out of the earth at the least not so well as when it is sowed with the hand of man Their skin is used for shooes Garments and Gum because of a spongy matter therein contained also to make Gunpowder and it is used in navigation when a shot hath pierced the sides of the ship presently they clapa raw Ox hide to the mouth of the breach which instantly keepeth the Water from entring in likewise they were wont to make bucklers or shieldes or hides of Oxen and Bugils and the seven-folded or doubled shield of Ajax was nothing else but a shield made of an Ox hide so many times layed one piece upon another which caused Homer to call it Sacos heptabreton Of the teeth of Oxen I know no other use but scraping and making paper smooth with them their gall being sprinkled among seed which is to be sowen maketh it come up quickly and killeth field-mise that tast of it and it is the bane or poison of those creatures so that they will not come neer to it no not in bread if they discern it and birds if they eat corn touched with an Oxes gall put into hot water first of all and the lees of wine they wax thereby astonished likewise Emmets will not come upon those places where there remaineth any savour of this gall and for this cause they anoint herewith the roots of trees The dung of Oxen is beneficial to Bees if the hive be anointed therewith for it killeth Spiders Gnats and drone-bees and if good heed be not taken it will work the like effect upon the Bees themselves for this cause they use to smother or burn this kind of dung under the mouthes of the Hives in the spring time which so displayeth and disperseth all the little enemy-bees in Bee-hives that they never breed again There is a proverb of the stable of Augea which Augea was so rich in Cattel ahat he defiled the Countrey with their dung whereupon that proverb grew when Hercules came unto him he promised him a part of his Countrey to purge that stable which was not cleansed by the yearly labour of 3000 Oxen but Hercules undertaking the labour turned a River upon it and so cleansed all When Augea saw that his stable was purged by art and not by labour he denied the reward and because Phyleus his eldest Son reproved him for not regarding a man so well deserving he cast him out of his family for ever The manifold use of the members of Oxen and Kie in medicine now remaineth to be briefly touched The horn beaten into powder cureth the Cough especially the tips or point of the horn which is also received against the
which is expressed in the former treatise of an Oxe The Ancients called Victoria by the name of the Goddess Vitula because they sacrificed unto her Calves which was tearmed a Vitulation and this was usual for victory and plenty as is to be seen at large in Giraldus Macrobius Nonius Ovid and Virgil but the Heathens had this knowledge that their Gods would not accept at their hands a lame Calf for a Sacrifice although it were brought to the Altar and if the tail of the Calf did not touch the joynts of his hinder legs they did not receive him for Sacrifice And it is said of Aemilius Paulus when he was to go against the Macedonians he sacrificed to the Moon in her declination eleven Calves It is very strange that a Calf being ready to be sacrificed at the Temple of Ierusalem brought forth a Lamb which was one fore-shewing sign of Ierusalems destruction But Aristotle declareth that in his time there was a Calf that had the head of a childe and in Luceria a Town of Helvetia was there a Calf which in his hinder parts was a Hart. When Charles the fifth went with his Army into Africk and arrived at Largherd a Noble City of Sardinia there happened an exceeding great wonder for an Oxe brought forth a Calf with two heads and the woman that did owe the Oxe presented the Calf to the Emperor and since that time I have seen the picture of a more strange beast calved at Bonna in the Bishoprick of Colen which had two heads one of them in the side not bigger then a Hares head and two bodies joyned together whereof the hinder parts were smooth and bald but the tail black and hairy it had also seven feet whereof one had three hoofs this Monster lived a little while and was brought forth in Anno 1552. the 16. day of May to the wonder and admiration of all them who either knew the truth or had seen the picture Butchers are wont to buy Calves for to kill and sell their flesh for in all creatures the flesh of the young ones are much better then the elder because they are moist and soft and therefore will digest and concoct more easily and for this cause Kids Lambs and Calves are not out of season in any time of the year and are good from fifteen days to two months old being ornaments to the Tables of great Noble men which caused Fiera to make this Distichon Assiduos habeant vitulum tua prandia in usus Cui madida sapida juncta tepore caro est And principally the Germans use the chawthern the head and the feet for the beginning of their meals and the other part either roasted or baked and sometime sod in broath and then buttered spiced and sauced and eaten with Onyons The Medicines arising from this beast are the same that come from his Sires before spoken of and especially the flesh of a Calf doth keep the flesh of a new wound if it be applyed thereunto from swelling and being sodden it is precious against the bitings of a mans teeth and when a mad Dog hath bitten a man or a beast they use to pare the wound to the quick and having sodden Veal mingled with the sewet and heel they lay some to the wound and make the patient drink of the broath and the same broath is soveraign against all the bitings of Serpents The horns of a Calf sod soft are good against all intoxicate poyson and especially Hemlock The powder of a Calves thigh drunk in Womans Milk cureth all filthy running Ulcers and out of the brains of a Calf they make an Oyntment to loosen the hardness of the belly The marrow softneth all the joynts driveth away the bunches arising in the body having an operation to soften fill dry and heat Take Oyl Wax Rust and the marrow of a Calf against all bunches in the face and Calves marrow with an equal quantity of Whay Oyl Rose-cake and an Egge do soften the hardness of the cheeks and eye-lids being laid to for a plaister and the same mixed with Cummin and infused into the ears healeth the pains of them and also easeth the Ulcers in the mouth The marrow with the sewet composed together cureth all Ulcers and corruptions in the Secrets of Men and Women The Fat pounded with Salt cureth the Louzy evill and likewise the ulcerous sores in the head The same mixed with the fat of a Goose and the juyce of Basil or wilde Cummin and infused into the ears helpeth deafness and pains thereof The fat taken out of the thigh of a Calf and sod in three porringers of water and supped up is good for them that have the Flux and the dung of a Calf fryed in a pan laid to the Buttocks and Secrets doth wonderfully cure the Bloodyflix also laid to the reins provoketh Urine and fod with Rue cureth all the inflamations in the seat of a man or woman The Sewet of a Calf with Nitre asswageth the swelling of the cods being applyed to them like a plaister and the Sewet alone doth cure the peeling of the Nails The Liver with Sage leaves cut together and pressed to a liquor being drunk easeth the pain in the small of the Belly The gall mingled with powder of a Harts-born and the Seed of Marjoram cureth Leprosies and Scurfs and the gall alone anointed upon the head driveth away nits The milt of a Calf is good for the milt of a man and for Ulcers in the mouth and glew made of his stones as thick as Hony and anointed upon the seprous place cureth the same if it be suffered to dry thereupon With the dung of Calves they perfume the places which are hurt with Scorpions and the ashes of this dung with Vinegar stayeth bleeding Marcellus magnifieth it above measure for the cure of the Gout to take the fime of a Calf which never eat grass mixed with lees of Vinegar and also for the deafness of the ears when there is pain withall take the Urine of a Bull Goat or Calf and one third part of Vinegar well fod together with the herb Fullonia then put it into a flagon with a small mouth and let the neck of the Patient be perfumed therewith Of the supposed Beast CACUS THere be some of the late Writers which take the Cacus spoken of by Virgil in his eight Book of Aeneids to be a wilde beast which Virgil describeth in these words Hic spelunca fuit vasto submota recessu Semihominis Caci facies quam ãâ¦ã tegebat Solis inaccensam radiis semperque recenti Caede tepebat humus foribusque affixa superbis Ora virum tristi pendebant pallida tabo Huic monstro Vuloanus erat pater illius atros Ore vomens ignes magna se mole ferebat Nequeunt expleri corda tuendo Pectora semiferi atque extinctos faucibus ignes That is Cacus was half a beast and half a man
right but these alter step after step so as the left foot behinde followeth the right before and the hinder foot followeth the left before Those Camels which are conceived by Bores are the strongest and fall not so quickly into the myre as other although his load be twice so heavy They stale from one side to another otherwise then any other beasts do this beast is very hot by nature and therefore want on and full of sport and wrath braying most fearfully when they are angred They engender like Elephants and Tygers that is the female lying or sitting on the ground which the male imbraceth like other males and continue in copulation a whole day together When they are to ingender they go unto the secretest places they can finde herein excelling in modesty the ancient Massagetes who were not ashamed to lie with their wives in the open field and publick view of one another where as brute beasts by instinct of nature make the procreation of their kinde to be a most secret shameful honest action At the time therefore of their lust they are most unruly and fierce yeelding to none no not to their own keepers the best time of their copulation is in September for in Arabia they begin to ingender in the third year of their age and so within ten or eleven moneths after she is delivered of young being never above one at a time for twins come not in her great belly so she goeth a year before she conceive again although her young be separated or weaned before which time they do not commonly Unto their former modesty for their copulation we may adde another divine instinct and most true observation about the same for the male will never cover his mother or his sister wherefore it is sincerely reported that when a certain Camel-keeper desirous to try this secret having the male son to a female which he also kept he so covered the female-mother-Camel in all parts of her body except her secrets that nothing could be seen of her and so brought her lustful son to cover her which according to his present rage he performed As soon as he had done it his master and owner pulled away the mask or disguise from the dam in the presence of the son whereby he instantly perceived his keepers fraud in making him unnaturally to have copulation with his own mother In revenge whereof he ran upon him and taking him in his mouth lift him up into the air presently letting him fall with noise and cry underneath his murdering and man-quelling feet where with unappeaseable wrath and blood-desiring livor he pressed and trod to pieces the incest marriage-causer twixt him and his dearest mother and yet not herewith satisfied like some reasonable creature deprived of heavenly grace and carryed with deadly revenge against such uncleanness being perswaded that the guilt of such an offence could never receive sufficient expiation by the death of the first deviser except the beguiled party suffered also some smart of penalty adjudged himself to death and no longer worthy to live by natures benefit which had so violated the womb that first conceived him and therefore running to and fro as it were to finde out a hang-man for himself at last found a steepy rock from whence he leaped down to end his life and although he could not prevent his offence yet he thought it best to cleanse away his mothers adultery with the sacrifice of that blood which was first conceived in that wombe which he had defiled These Camels are kept in herds and are as swift as Horses according to the measure of their strength not only because of their nimbleness but also because their strides and reach doth gather in more ground for which cause they are used by the Indians for race when they go to fetch the gold which is said to be kept by the Formicae Lyons which are not much bigger then Foxes yet many times do these Lyons overtake the Camels in course and tear the riders in pieces They have been also used for battel or war by the Arabians in the Persian war but their fear is so great of an Horse that as Xenophon saith in the institution of Cyrus when the Armies came to joyn neither the Camel would approach to the Horse or the Horse to the Camel whereupon it is accounted a base and unprofitable thing for a man to nourish Camels for fight yet the Persians for the fight of Cyrus in Lydia ever nourished Camels and Horses together to take away their fear one from another Therefore they are used for carriage which they will perform with great facility being taught by their keepers to kneel and lye down to take up their burthens which by reason of their height a man cannot lay on them always provided that he will never go beyond his ordinary lodging and baiting place or endure more then his usual burthen and it hath been seen that one of these Bactrian Camels hath carryed above ten Minars of corn and above that a bed with five men therein They will travel in a day above forty ordinary miles for as Pliny saith that there was from Thomna to Gaza sixty and two lodging places for Camels which was in length one thousand five hundred thirty and seven miles They are also used for the plow in Numidia and for this cause are yoaked sometimes with Horses but Heliogabalus like as the Tartarians yoaked them together not only for private spectacles and plays but also for drawing of Waggons and Chariots When they desire to have them free and strong for any labour in the field or war they use to geld both the male and the female the manner whereof is in this sort The male by taking away his stones and the female by fearing her privy parts within the brim and laps thereof with a hot iron which being so taken away they can never more join in copulation and these are more patient in labour and thirst and likewise better endure the extremity of sand in those parts having this skill that if the mists of rain or sand do never so much obscure the way from the rider yet doth she remember the same without all staggering The urine of this beast is excellent for the use of Fullers of the hair called Buber or Camels Wool is cloth made for Apparel called Camelotta or Camels hair and the hair of the Caspian Camels is so soft that it may be therein compared with the softest Milesian Wool whereof their Princes and Priests make their garments and it is very probable that the garments of Saint John Baptist was of this kinde In the City of Calacia under the great Cham and in the province of Egrigaia is cloth made of the hair of Camels and white wool called Zambilotti shewing most gloriously but the best of this kinde are in the land of Gog and Magog It is forbidden in holy Scripture to
time of their lust commonly called cat-wralling they are wilde and fierce especially the males who at that time except they be gelded will not keep the house at which time they have a peculiar direful voice The manner of their copulation is this the female lyeth down and the male standeth and their females are above measure desirous of procreation for which cause they provoke the male and if he yeeld not to their lust they beat and claw him but it is only for love of young and not for lust the male is most libidinous and therefore seeing the female will never more engender with him during the time her young ones suck he killeth and eateth them if he meet with them to provoke the female to copulation with him again for when she is deprived of her young she seeketh out the male of her own accord for which the female most warily keepeth them from his sight During the time of copulation the female continually cryeth whereof the Writers give a double cause one because she is pinched with the talons or clawes of the male in the time of his lustful rage and the other because his seed is so fiery hot that it almost burneth the females place of conception When they have littered or as we commonly say kittened they rage against Dogs and will suffer none to come neer their young ones The best to keep are such as are littered in March they go with young fifty daies and the females live not above six or seven years the males live longer especially if they be gelt or libbed the reason of their short life is their ravening of meat which corrupteth within them They cannot abide the savour of ointments but fall mad thereby they are sometimes infected with the falling evill but are cured with Gobium It is needless to spend any time about her loving nature to man how she flattereth by rubbing her skin against ones Legs she whurleth with her voice having as many tunes as turnes for she hath one voice to beg and to complain another to testifie her delight and pleasure another among her own kind by flattering by hissing by puffing by spitting in so much as some have thought that they have a peculiar intelligible language among themselves Therefore how she beggeth playeth leapeth looketh catcheth tosseth with her foot riseth up to strings held over her head sometimes creeping sometimes lying on the back playing with one foot sometime on the belly snatching now with mouth and anon with foot apprehending greedily any thing save the hand of a man with divers such gestical actions it is needless to stand upon in so much as Coelius was wont to say that being free from his Studies and more urgent weighty affaires he was not ashamed to play and sport himself with his Cat and verily it may well be called an idle mans pastime As this beast hath been familiarly nourished of many so have they payed dear for their love being requited with the losse of their health and sometime of their life for their friendship and worthily because they which love any beast in a high measure have so much the lesse charity unto man Therefore it must be considered what harmes and perils come unto men by this beast It is most certain that the breath and savour of Cats consume the radical humour and destoy the lungs and therefore they which keep their Cats with them in their beds have the air corrupted and fall into severall Hecticks and Consumptions There was a certain company of Munks much given to nourish and play with Cats whereby they were so infected that within a short space none of them were able either to say read pray or sing in all the Monastery and therefore also they are dangerous in the time of Pestilence for they are not only apt to bring home venemous infection but to poison a man with very looking upon him wherefore there is in some men a natural dislike and abhorring of Cats their natures being so composed that not only when they see them but being neer them and unseen and hid of purpose they fall into passions frettings sweatings pulling off their hats and trembling fearfully as I have known many in Germany the reason whereof is because the constellation which threatneth their bodies which is peculiar to every man worketh by the presence and offence of these creatures and therefore they have cryed out to take away the Cats The like may be said of the flesh of Cats which can seldom be free from poison by reason of their daily food eating Rats and Mice Wrens and other birds which feed on poison and above all the brain of a Cat is most venomous for it being above measure dry stoppeth the animal spirits that they cannot passe into the ventricle by reason whereof memory faileth and the infected person falleth into a Phrenzie The cure whereof may be this take of the water of sweet Marjoram with Terra lemnia the weight of a groat mingled together and drink it twice in a month putting good store of spices into all your meat to recreate the spirits withall let him drink pure Wine wherein put the seed of Diamoschu But a Cat doth as much harm with her venemous teeth therefore to cure her biting they prescribe a good diet sometime taking Hony Turpentine and Oil of Roses melt together and laid to the wound with Centory sometime they wash the would with the urine of a man and lay to it the brains of some other beast and pure Wine mingled both together The hair also of a Cat being eaten unawares stoppeth the Artery and causeth Suffocation and I have heard that when a childe hath gotten the hair of a Cat into his mouth it hath so cloven and stuck to the place that it could not be gotten off again and hath in that place bred either the wens or the Kings evill To conclude this point it appeareth that this is a dangerous beast and that therefore as for necessity we are constrained to nourish them for the suppressing of small vermine so with a wary and discreet eye we must avoid their harms making more account of their use then of their persons In Spain and Gallia Narbon they eat Cats but first of all take away their head and tail and hang the prepared flesh a night or two in the open cold air to exhalt the savour and poison of it finding the flesh thereof to be almost as sweet as a Cony It must needs be an unclean and impure beast that liveth only upon vermin and by ravening for it is commonly said of a man when he neeseth that he hath eaten with Cats likewise the familiars of Witches do most ordinarily appear in the shape of Cats which is an argument that this beast is dangerous to soul and body It is said that if bread be made wherein the dung of Cats is mixed it will drive away Rats
being about fourteen or twenty dayes old and some have devised a cruel delicate meat which is to cut the young ones out of the dams belly and so to dresse and eat them but I trust there is no man among Christians so inhumanely gluttonous as once to devise or approve the sweetness of so foul a dish but the tame ones are not so good for in Spain they will not eat of a tame Cony because every creature doth partake in tast of the air wherein he liveth and therefore tame Conies which are kept in a close and unsweet air by reason of their own excrements cannot tast so well or be so wholesome as those which run wilde in the mountains and fields free from all infection of evill air They love above all places the rocks and make Dens in the earth and whereas it is said Psal 104 that the stony rocks are for the Cony it is not to be understood as if the feet of the Cony could pierce into the rock as into the earth and that she diggeth her hole therein as in looser ground but that finding among the rocks holes already framed to her hand or else some light earth mingled therewith she more willingly entreth thereinto as being more free from rain and floods then in lower and softer ground for this cause they love also the hils and lower grounds and woods where are no rocks as in England which is not a rocky Countrey but wheresoever she is forced to live there she diggeth her holes wherein for the day time she abideth but morning and evening cometh out from thence and sitteth at the mouth thereof In their copulation they engender like Elephants Tygres and Linxes that is the male leapeth on the back of the female their privie parts being so sramed to meet one another behind because the females do render their urine backward their secrets and the seed of the male are very smal They begin to breed in some Countries being but six moneths old but in England at a year old and so continue bearing every moneth at the least seven times in one year if they litter in March but in the Winter they do not engender at all and therefore the Authors say of these and Hares that they abound in procreation by reason whereof a little store will serve to encrease a great borough Their young being littered are blind and see not till they be nine dayes old and their dam hath no suck for them till she hath been six or seven hours with the male at the least for six hours after she cannot suckle them greatly desiring to go to the Buck and if she be not permitted presently she is so far displeased that she will not be so inclined again for 14 daies after I have been also credibly informed by one that kept tame Conies that he had Does which littered three at a time and within fourteen daies after they littered four more Their ordinary number in one litter is five and sometimes nine but never above and I have seen that when a Doe hath had nine in her belly two or three of them have perished and been oppressed in the womb by suffocation The males will kill the young ones if they come at them like as the Bore cats and therefore the female doth also avoid it carefully covering the nest or litter with gravell or earth that so they may not be discovered there are also some of their females very unnatural not caring for their yong ones but suffer them to perish both because they never provide a warm litter or nest for them as also because they forsake them being littered or else devour them For the remedy of this evill he that loveth to keep them for his profit must take them before they be delivered and pull off the hair or flesh underneath their belly and so put it upon their nest that when the young one cometh forth it may not perish for cold and so the dam will be taught by experience of pain to do the like her self Thus far Thomas Gypâon an English Poysician For Conies you may give them Vine-leaves Fruits Herbs Grasse Bran Oatmel Mallows the parings of Apples likewise Cabbages Apples themselves and Lettuce and I my self gave to a Cony blew Wolfe-bane which she did presently eat without hurt but Gallingale and blind Nettle they will not eat In the Winter they will eat Hay Oats and Chaffe being given to them thrice a day when they eat Greenes they must not drink at all for if they do it is hazzard but they will incur the Dropsie and at other times they must for the same cause drink but little and that little must be alway fresh It is also dangerous to handle their young ones in the absence of the dam for her jealousie will easily perceive it which causeth her so to disdain them that either she biteth forsaketh or killeth them Foxes will of their own accord hunt both Hares and Conies to kill and eat them Touching their medicinall properties it is to be observed that the brain of Conies hath been eaten for a good Antidote against poison so also the Hart which is hard to be digested hath the same operation that is in treacle There is also an approved medicine for the Squinancy or Quinsie take a live Cony and burn her in an earthen pot to powder then take a spoonful of that powder in a draught of wine and drink the most part thereof and rub your throat with the residue and it shall cure with speed and ease as Marcellus saith The fat is good against the stopping of the bladder and difficulty of urine being anointed at a fire upon the hairy place of the secrets as Alex. Benedictus affirms Other things I omit concerning this beast because as it is vulgar the benefits thereof are commonly known Of the Indian little PIG-CONY I Received the picture of this beast from a certain Noble-man my loving friend in Paris whose parts it is not needfull to describe seeing the image it self is perspicuous and easie to be observed The quantity of this beast doth not exceed the quantity of a vulgar Cony but rather the body is shorter yet fuller as also I observed by those two which that noble and learned Physician Joh. Munzingerus sent me It hath two little low ears round and almost pild without hair having also short legs five claws upon one foot behind and six before teeth like a mouse but no tail and the colour variable I have seen of them all white and all yellow and also different from both those their voice is much like the voice of a Pig and they eat all kinds of Herbs Fruits Oats and Bread and some give them water to drink but I have nourished some divers moneths together and never given them any water but yet I gave them moist food as Herbs Apples Rapes and such like or else they would incur the Dropsie Their
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 ãâ¦ã 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 ãâã 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 âin 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 Cârva 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
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 âharon 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 thiâketh 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
down barking about the surest marks and confounding their own foot-steps with the Beasts they hunt or else forsake the way and so run back again to the first head but when they see the Hare they tremble and are afraid not daring to come near her except she run away first these with the other which hinder the cunning labours of their colleagues trusting to their feet and running before their betters deface the best mark or else hunt counter as they tearm it take up any false sent for the truth or which is more reprehensible never forsake the high ways and yet have not learned to hold their peace unto these also you may adde those which cannot discern the footings or pricking of the Hare yet will they run speedily when they see her or else at the beginning set forth very hot and afterward tyre and give over lazily all these are not to be admitted into the kennel of good Hunds But the good and approved Hounds on the contrary when they have found the Hare make shew thereof to the Hunter by running more speedily and with gesture of head eyes ears and tail winding to the Hares muse never give over prosecution with a gallant noise no not returning to their leaders lest they lose advantage they have good and hard feet and are of stately stomacks not giving over for any hate and fear not the rocks or other mountain places as the Poet expresseth Quae laus prima canum quibus est audacia praeceps Quae nunc elatis rimantur naribus auras Et perdunt clamore feram dominumque vocando Insequitur tumulosque canis camposque per omnes Venandi sagax virtus viresque sequendi Et nunc demisso quaerunt vestigia rostro Increpitant quem si collatis effugit armis Noster in arte labor positus spes omnis in illa c. And therefore also it is good oftentimes to lead the Hounds to the Mountains for exercise of their feet when you have no Hare or other Beast And whereas the nature of this Hare is sometimes to leap and make headings sometimes to tread softly without any great impression in the earth or sometimes to lye down and ever to leap or jump out in to her own fourm or sitting the poor Hound is so much the more busied and troubled to retain the small savour of her footings which she leaveth behinde her for this cause also it is to be noted that the Hound must be holp not only with the voyce eye and hand of the Hunter but also with a seasonable time for in frosty weather the savour congealeth and freezeth with the earth so as you cannot hunt with any certainty untill the thaw thereof or till the Sun arise Likewise if rain fall betwixt the going of the Hare and the hunting time you cannot hunt till the water be dryed up for the drops disperse the sent of the Hare and the dry weather recollecteth it again The Summer time also is not for hunting by reason the heat of the earth consumeth the savour and the night being then but short the Hare travelleth but little feeding only in the evening and morning Likewise the fragrancy of every green herb yeeldeth such a savour as doth not a little obliterate and oversway the savour of the Beast and therefore Aristotle in his Wonders sheweth that in Aetna in the Summer time there are such plenty of sweet smelling flowers especially of Violets which overcome the nostrils of the Hounds so as in vain they follow the Hare The best time therefore for hunting with these Hounds is the Autumn or fall of the leaf because that then the odours of herbs are weakned and the earth barer then at other times The best manner to teach these Hounds is to take a live Hare and trail her after you upon the earth now one way now another and so having drawn it a convenient space hide it in the earth afterward set forth your Hound neer the trail who taking winde runneth to and fro neer the woods fields pastures path-ways and hedges untill he finde which way the Hare is gone but with a soft and gentle pace untill at length coming neer the lodged Hare he mendeth his pace and bestirreth himself more speedily leaping upon his prey like some Serpent or as an arrow shot out of a Bow and so tearing it in pieces or killing it with joy loadeth himself with his conquest and bringeth it to his Master with triumph who must receive both Dog and it with all tokens of love into his own bosome which thing caused Nemesian to write thus Quae freâa si Morinum dubio refluentia ponto O quanta est merces quantum impendia supra Si non ad speciem menturosque decores Protinus haec una est catulis jactura Britannis Diversa Britannia mittit Veloces nostrique orbis venatibus aptos There are divers Countrey Dogs like unto these as the Geloni and Gnosii which caused Ovid to reckon and call Ichnobates one of Actaeons Dogs Gnosius whom Oppianus compareth to the Polypus fish which smelling in the waters the leaves of Olives by the sent is drawn to the land to eat them The Spanish Dogs whom the French call Espagneulx have long ears but not like a Braches and by their noses hunt both Hares and Conies they are not rough but smooth haired The Tuscan Dogs are commended by Nemesian notwithstanding they are not beautiful to look upon having a deep shaggy hair yet is their game not unpleasant Quin Tuscorum uon est extrema voluptas Saepe Canum forma est illis licet obsita villo c. Haud tamen injucunda dabunt tibi munera praedae c. Atque etiam leporum secreta cubilia monstrant The Vmbrian Dog is sharp nosed but fearfull of his sport as Gratius expresseth Aut exigit Vmber Nare sagax e calle feras At fugit adversus idem quos efferent hostes Tanta foret virtus tantum vellet in armis The Aetolian Dogs have also excellent smelling noses and are not slow or fearful whom Gratius expresseth as followeth At clangore citat quos nondum conspicit apros Aetola quaeounque Canis de stirpe malignum Officium c. Seu frustra nimius properat furor Mirum quam celeres quantum nare metentur The French Dogs are derived or propagated of the Dogs of Great Britain and are swift and quick sented but not all for they have of divers kindes as Gratius expresseth in these words Magnaque diversos extollit gloria Celtas They are very swift and not sharp nosed wherefore they are mingled in generation with the Vmbrian Dogs and therefore he celebrateth in many verses the praise of the first Hunter as he taketh him Hagno Baeonius and his Dog Metagon and afterward the Dog Petronius but it may be that by Metagon he meaneth the Dogs of Lybia because there is a City of that name and by Petronius the
overthrow of them that persecute him The Moors say that he hath two hearts one wherewithal he is incensed and another whereby he is pacified But the truth is as Aristotle in the dissection of the heart observed there is a double ventricle and bone in the heart of an Elephant He hath a Liver without any apparent gall but that side of the Liver being cut whereon the gall should lie a certain humour cometh forth like a gall Wherefore Aelianus saith he hath his gall in his maw-gut which is so full of sinews that one would think he had four bellies in this receiveth he his meat having no other receptacle for it His intrails are like unto a Swines but much greater His Liver four times so great as an Oxes and so all the residue except the Milt He hath two pappes a little beside his brest under his shoulders and not between his hinder legs or loins they are very small and cannot be seen on the side The reasons hereof are given first that he hath but two pappes because he bringeth forth but one at a time and they stand under his shoulders like an Apes because he hath no hoofs but distinct feet like a mans and also because from the breast floweth more aboundance of milke The genital part is like a Horses but lesser then the proportion of his body affordeth the stones are not outwardly seen because they cleave to his reins But the female hath her genital betwixt her thighes the forelegs are much longer then the hinder legs and the feet be greater His legs are of equall quantity both above and beneath the knees and it hath ancle bones very low The articles do not ascend so high as in other creatures but kept low neer the earth He bendeth his hinder legs like a mans when he sitteth but by reason of his great weight he is not able to bend on both sides together but either leaneth to the right hand or to the left and so sleepeth It is false that they have no joints or articles in their legs for when they please they can use bend and move them but after they grow old they use not to lie down or strain them by reason of their great weight but take their rest leaning to a tree and if they did not bend their legs they could never go any ordinary and stayed pace Their feet are round like a Horses but so as they reach from the middle every way two spans length and are as broad as a bushel having five distinct toes upon each foot the which toes are very little cloven to the intent that the foot may be stronger and yet parted that when he treadeth upon soft ground the weight of his body presse not down the leg too deep He hath no nails upon his toes his tail is like an Oxes tail having a little hair at the end and the residue thereof peeled and without hair He hath not any bristly hairs to cover his back And thus much for their several parts and their uses There is not any creature so capable of understanding as an Elephant and therefore it is requisite to tarry somewhat the longer in expressing the several properties and natural qualities thereof which sundry and variable inclinations cannot choose but bring great delight to the Reader They have a wonderful love to their own Countrey so as although they be never so well delighted with divers meats and joyes in other places yet in memory thereof they send forth tears and they love also the waters rivers and marishes so as they are not unfitly called Riparii such as live by the rivers sides although they cannot swim by reason of their great and heavie bodies untill they be taught Also they never live solitary but in great flocks except they be sick or watch their young ones and for either of these they remain adventurous unto death the eldest leadeth the herd and the second driveth them forward if they meet any man they give him way and go out of his sight Their voice is called by the word Barrire that is to bray and thereupon the Elephants themselves are called Barri for his voice cometh out of his mouth and nostrils together like as when a man speaketh breathing wherefore Aristotle calleth it Raucity or hoarsness like the low sound of a Trumpet this sound is very terrible in battails as shall be afterward declared They live upon the fruits of Plants and roots and with their truncks and heads overthrow the tops of trees and eat the boughs and bodies of them and many times upon the leaves of trees he devoureth Chamaeleons whereby he is poisoned and dyeth if he eat not immediately a wilde Olive They eat earth often without harm but if they eat it seldom it is hurtful and procureth pain in their bellies so also they eat stones They are so loving to their fellows that they will not eat their meat alone but having found a prey they go and invite the residue to their feasts and chear more like to reasonable civil men then unreasonable brute beast There are certain noble Melons in Ethiopia which the Elephants being sharp smelling beasts do winde a great way off and by the conduct of their noses come to those Gardens of Melons and there eat and devour them When they are tamed they will eat Barlie either whole or ground of whole at one time is given them nine Macedonian Bushels but of Meal six and of drink either wine or water thirty Macedonian pints at at a time that is fourteen gallons but this is observed that they drink not wine except in war when they are to fight but water at all times whereof they will not tast except it be muddy and not clear for they avoid clear water loathing to see their own shadow therein and therefore when the Indians are to passe the water with their Elephants they chuse dark and cloudy nights wherein the Moon affordeth no light If they perceive but a Mouse run over their meat they will not eat thereof for there is in them a great hatred of this creature Also they will eat dryed Figs Grapes Onions Bulrushes Palmes and Ivy leaves There is a Region in India called Phalacâus which signifieth Balde because of an herb growing therein which causeth every living thing that eateth thereof to lose both horn and hair and therefore no man can be more industrious or wary to avoid those places then is an Elephant and to forbear every green thing growing in that place when he passeth thorough it It will forbear drink eight dayes together and drink wine to drunkenness like an Ape It is delighted above measure with sweet savours ointments and smelling flowers for which cause their keepers will in the Summer time lead them into the medowes of flowers where they of themselves will by the quickness of their smelling chuse out and gather the sweetest flowers and put them
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
smelt sweetly and somewhat like to a Musk-cat and from Lyons in France they are brought into Germany three or four of them being sold for a Noble It is very probable that it is a little kinde of Panther or Leopard for there is a little Panther which hath such spots and besides of such a stature and harmless disposition whose skin in old time was pretiously used for garments and the favour thereof was very pleasant and therefore I supersede any further discourse hereof till we come to the declaration of the greater beast Of the GOAT Male and Female THe male or great Goat-Buck is called in Hebrew Atud and the lesser Seir and Zeir The Chalde translateth it Gen. 13. Teias-jaii and Numb 15 Ize the Arabians Teus and Maez the Persians Asteban and Busan the Grecians Tragos or devouring or ravening in meat according to the Verse Tragus ab Edendo quod grana fracta pane Also Chimaron and Enarchan the Latins Hircus and sometime Caper which word properly signifieth a Gelded Goat as Martial useth in this Verse Dum jugulas hircum factus es ipse Caper The Italians Beccho the Germans Bock and for distinction sake Geissbock and Reechbock and Booerk the Spaniards Cabron the French Bouc the Illyrians Kozel The reason of the Latin word Hircus is derived of Hirtus signifying rough by reason of the roughness of their bodies And it is further to be understood that the general kind of Goats which the Latins distinguish by Hircus Capra and Hoedus that is by their sex or by their age the Hebrews call them singularly Ez and plurally Izim Numb 15. for a Goat of a year old you shall read Izbethsch-neth The Chalde useth also the general word Oza the Arabian Schaah the Persian Buz and whereas Levit. 16. Seir is put for Caper a gelded Goat there the Chalde reudereth it Zephirah the Arabians Atud and the Persian Buzgalaie And in the same Chapter you shall read Azazel which David Kimhi rendereth for the name of a mountain neer Sinai where Goats use to feed and lodge and the Septuagints translate it Apopompaion signifying emission or sending away and for this cause I suppose that when the Scape-goat was by the Priest sent out of the Temple he went to that mountain and therefore the word Azazel seemeth to be compounded of Ez a Goat and Azal Iuit that is he went for the Scape Goat went and carryed away the evill The Grecians call the female Goat Aix which seemeth to be derived of Ez the Hebrew word The Arabians Dakh and Metaham as I find in Avicen the Saracens Anse the Italians Peccho changing B from the male into P and the Spaniards Capron the French Cheuer or Chieuere the Germans Geiss the Illyrians Koza and the Tuscanes at this day call a female Goat Zebei And this may suffice for the names of both male and female Their nature is to be declared severally except in those things wherein they agree without difference and first of all the male is rightly termed Dux maritus Caprarum the guide and husband of the females and therefore Virgil saith of him not improperly Vir gregis ipse Caper The He-goat is the husband of the flock and except in his genitals and horns he differeth not in any proportion or substance from the female His horns are longer and stronger then are the females and therefore upon provocation he striketh through an ordinary piece of Armor or Shield at one blow his force and the sharpness of his horns are so pregnable He hath many attributes among the learned as left-sided aged greedy bearded swift long-legged horn-bearer captain of the flock heavy rough hoarse-voiced rugged unarmed unclean strong-smelling lecherous bristler wanderer vile wanton sharp stinking two-horned and such like whereof his nature and qualities are so deciphered as it needeth no long treatise of explication There is no beast that is more prone and ãâ¦ã st then is a Goat for he joyneth in copulation before all other beasts Seven dayes after it is yeaâed and kiddened it beginneth and yeeldeth seed although without proof At seven moneths did it engend ãâ¦ã this cause that it beginneth so soon it endeth at five years and after that time is ãâã ânâble to accomplish that work of nature When the Egyptians will describe fecundity or ability of generation they do it by picturing of a male Goat That which is most strange and horrible among other beasts is ordinary and common among these for in them starce the Brother joyneth with the Sister and a Camel can never be brought to cover his Dam but among these the young ones being males cover their Mother even while they suck their milk If they be fat they are lesse venereous then being macilent or lean Herodotus declareth that in his time a Goat of Mendesia in Egypt had carnal copulation with a woman in the open sight of men and afterward was led about to be seen When they desire copulation they have a proper voice wherewithal as it seemeth they provoke the female to love This is called it in Italy Biccari and Biccarie which the Venetians apply to all lecherous companions as commonly as a proverb and this they never use but at that time By reason of his lust his eyes sink deep into the corners of their holes called Hirqui and Apuleius with other Grammarians do derive the word Hircus whereby this beast is called from that disposition By drinking salt water they are made desirous and apt to procreation At that time they fight mutually one with another for their females and it is a term among the late writers to call those men Hirci Goats which are contented to permit other men to lie with their wives in publick before their own faces for gain because they imagine that such is the property of Goats But I know not with what reason they are moved hereunto for there is a memorable story to the contrary In Sibaris there was a young man called Crathis which being not able to retain lust but forsaken of God and given over to a reprobate sense committed buggery with a female Goat the which thing the master Goat beheld and looked upon and dissembled concealing his mind and jealousie for the pollution of his female Afterward finding the said young man asleep for he was a Shepherd he made all his force upon him and with his horns dashed out the buggerers brains The man being found dead on this manner and the Goat which he had ravished delivered of a monster having a Mans face and a Goats legs they call it Silvanus and place it in the rank of idoll Gods but the wretched man himself was bnried with more honour then beseemed for they gave him a noble funeral and finding a River in Achaia which mingled water with another they called it Crathis after the name of that unnatural and beastly monster whereupon also came the Italian Crathis which Strabo
have many bellies and a round Milt which thing no other horned-beast hath except a Sheep The males have harsher hairs then their females and the Lybian Goats have hair as long as womens and very rough curled which the inhabitants shear off every year and therewith the Ship-wrights make cable ropes but in Cilicia and Phrygia they shear them and make the stuffe called Zambelot and another kinde of Cloth called Mathaliaze In Arabia they make Tents of Cloth compiled of Asses and Goats hair and it seemeth that Cilicia received his name of this kinde of Cloth which is called in Latin Cilicium or else that this Cloth was first invented among them whereupon it received that denomination but among the Grammarians and Poets Lana Caprina Goats wool grew to a proverb to signifie ãâã thing of no weight or moment as it is in Horace Alter rixatur de lana saepe caprina Propugnat nugis armatus There are another sort of Goats which are called Syrian Goats and of some Mambrin Goats and most commonly Indian Goats because they are most noble in that Countrey and that in Coythae and likewise in the Region of Damiata for Mambre is a Mountain neer Hebron from whence it is probable that the word Mambrin cometh wherefore I have thought good to expresse the figure both of the greatest of that kinde as it was taken by Antonius Musa Brasovalus Physitian to the Noble Duke Hercules de Este at Ferraria by one of these Goats brought thither to be seen The lesser kinde I conjecture to be the right Mambrine or Syrian Goat although some of the late writers call it an Indian Goat the reason is because as hath been said they call all strange beasts by the names of Indians if they finde them not in their own Countrey The ears of it are large and broad as the picture describeth and such ears have the Goats of Gallia-Narbon being at the least as broad as a mans span they are of colour like wilde Goats their horns very sharp and standing not far distant one from the other and have stones like a stone Horse being in all other parts not unlike to the vulgar and common Goat Some curious herdsmen as Alcmaeon and Archelaus have delivered to the world that Goats take breath through their ears and Phyles approveth their conceit because he had seen an experiment of a Goat that his mouth and nostrils being stopped fast nevertheless he seemed not to be troubled for want of breath and for this also is alleadged the authority of Oppianus who writeth of certain Goats called Aegari that they have a certain hole or passage in the middle of their head betwixt the horns which goeth directly unto the liver and the same stopped with liquid Wax suffocateth or stifleth the beast If this be true as I would not any way extenuate the authority of the writer then it is very likely that some have without difference attributed to all kindes of Goats that which was proper to this kinde alone for the former opinion is not reasonable Nevertheless I leave every man to his own liberty of believing or refusing There is no beast that heaeeth so perfectly and so sure as a Goat for he is not only holp in this sense with his ears but also hath the Organ of hearing in part of his throat wherefore when the Egyptians describe a man which hath an excellent ear they express him by a Goat There are some kinde of Goats in Illyria which have whole hoofs like a Horse and these are only found in that Region In all other Nations of the World they are cloven footed The use of their several parts is singular and first of all to begin with their skin the people of Sardinia as saith Nymphidorus nourish Goats for their skins whereof they make them garments being dressed with the hair upon them and they affirm strange virtue in them namely that they heat their bodies in the Winter and cool them in the Summer and the hairs growing upon those skins are a cubit long therefore the man that weareth them in Winter time turneth the hairy side next to his body and so is warmed by it and in Summer the raw side and so the hair keepeth the Sun from piercing his skin and violence of heat And this also is usual in Suevia where the women wear garments of Goats hair in the Winter and also make their childrens coats thereof according to Virgils saying in Moreto Et cinctus villosae tegmine Caprae For this cause the Merchants buy them rough in those parts of Savoy neer Geneva and their choice is of the young ones which die naturally or are kild or else such as were not above two years old The Tyrians in the Persian war wore upon their backs Goat-skins In ancient time they made hereof Dipthera that was a kinde of Parchment whereon they wrote on both sides and had the name in Greek from that use which Hermolaus by a metaphorical allusion called Opistographi From the use of these in garments came the appellation of harlots to be cald Pellices and a whores bag was called Penula Scortea such a one is used by Pilgrims which go to visit the Church of Saint James of Calec and such Carriers or Foot-posts had wont to use in their journies which caused Martial to write thus Ingrediare viam coelo licet usque sereno An subitas nusquam scortea cepit aquar The Sandals which men were wont to wear on their feet in the East Countries were also made of Goats skins and there was a custome in Athens that men for honour of Bacchus did dance upon certain Bottles made of Goats skins and full of wind the which were placed in the middest of the Theatre and the dancer was to use but one leg to the intent that he might often fall from the slippery bottles and make the people sport whereunto Virgil alluded this saying Mollibus in pratis unctos saliere pro utres There is also a Ladanum tree in Carmania by the cutting of the bark whereof there issueth forth a certain gum which they take and preserve in a Goats skin their use in War wherein the Souldiers were wont to lie all Winter and therefore we read that Claudius the Emperour had given him thirty tents of Goats skins for his Souldiers attend upon the Judges and the Mariners also by these defended themselves from the violence of storms upon the Sea and so I leave this part of the beast with remembrance of that which is written in holy Scripture Heb. 11. that the people of God in ancient times did flee away from the rage of superstition being anparelled or rather meanly disguised in Goat skins being charitably holped by the beasts that were cruelly put to death by wretched men In the next place the milke of Goats cometh to be considered for that also hath been is and will be of great accouut for Butter and
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 ãâ¦ã 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 ãâ¦ã 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
Goats milk Goats are also molested and subject to the Falling sickness and this is known by their voyce and cold moist brains and therefore the Roman Priests were commanded to abstain from touching such Beasts They are also troubled with the Gowt the Female-goat easeth the pain of her eyes by pricking them upon a Bull-rush and the Male-goat by pricking them upon a Thorn and so pituitous matter followeth the prick whereby the sight is recovered without any harm done to the Apple and from hence it is supposed that the Physitians learned their Parakentesis pricking of sore eyes with a Needle The Females never wink in their sleep being herein like the Roe-bucks There are certain Birds called Capri-mulgi because of their sucking of Goats and when these or any of them have sucked a Goat she presently falleth blinde If at any time she be troubled with the Dropsie an issue must be made under her shoulder and when the humour is avoided stop up the hole with liquid pitch They drink the seed of Seselis to make them have an easie deliverance of their young and for that cause Columella prescribeth a pinte of sod Corn and Wine to be infused into their throats in that extremity their other maladies being like unto Sheep we will reserve their description and cure to that History These Goats have in ancient times been used for Sacrifices not only by the Soveraign command of Almighty God but also by the practise of Heathen people for their perfect sacrifice which consisted of a Ram a Goat a Hog and a Bull was called Hecatombe and Tryttis The reason why Swine and Goats were sacrificed among the Heathen was because the Swine dig up the earth with their noses and root out the Corn they were sacrificed to Ceres and the Goats spoil the Vines by biting for which cause they sacrificed him to Bacchus that so the drunken God might be pacified with the bloud of that Beast whose hallowed grapes he had devoured whereupon the Poet writeth thus Sus dederat poenas exemplo territus horum Palmite debueras abstinuisse Caper Quem spectans aliquis dentes in vite prementem Talia non tacito dicta dolore dedit Rode caper vitem tamen hinc cum stabis ad aras In tua quod spargi cornua possit erit When they sacrificed a Goat in Graecia they tryed him by giving him Pease or cold water to drink which if he refused they also refused him for sacrifice but if he tasted it they took and offered him Martiall having seen or rather heard of a Countrey Priest sacrificing a Goat and being assisted by a Countreyman when the Beast was slain the Priest commanded the poor Countrey man to cut off the stones Teter ut immundae carnis abiret odor to let the unwholesome vapour of the unclean flesh out of the body Afterward the Priest being busie about the Sacrifice and stooping down to the carkass of the Beast his cods appeared behinde him betwixt his legs the which when the Countrey-man saw he suddenly cut them off with his sharp knife thinking that the ancient ceremony of fasting required this to be done whereupon Martial wrote this Epigram Sto modo qui Tuscus fueras nunc Gallus aruspex Dum jugulus hireum factus es ipse caper The Mendesians worshipped Goats both males and females because as they imagine they were like to their God Pan. The Egyptians also deified the male Goat for his genital members as other Nations did Priapus The Gentiles had also a brazen Goat whereupon Venus rode in brass which picture they called Pandemon and Venus Epitragia I think that lust could not be better described then by this emblem for venereous persons will suffer their whores to do any disgrace unto them for their carnal pleasure And thus much for these male and female Goats now follow the stories of the wilde Goats and the Kids in order Of the GOAT called by Pliny a DEER THere is no man that shall see this Beast but will easily yeeld unto my opinion that it is a Goat and not a Deer the hair beard and whole proportion of body most evidently demonstrating so much neither is there any difficulty herein except forthe horns which turn forward at the point and not backward which thing yet swarveth not so much from a Goat as from a Deer and therefore can be no good reason to alter my opinion There are of this kinde as Doctor Gay affirmeth in the Northern part of England and that figure which is engraven at Rome in a Marble pillar being a remembrance of some Triumph which Pliny setteth forth differeth in no part from this Beasts description and proportion Yet I take it that it may be brought into England from some other Nation and so be seen in some Noble mans house but that it should be bred there I cannot finde any monument of authority but I rather conjecture the same to be bred in Spain Of these kindes there are three Epigrams in Martial whereby is declared their mutual fights killing one another their fear of Dogs and their flesh desired both of men and beasts The first Epigram describing their wilful fight one killing another and so saving a labour to the Hunter for they kill themselves to his hand is thus Frontibus adversis molles concurrere damas Vidimus fati sorte jacere pari Spectavere Canes praedam stupuitque superbus Venator cultro nil superesse suo Vnde leves animae tanto caluere furore Sic pugnant Tauri sic cecidere viri The second Epigram is a Dialogue speaking to the Emperour who took care to encrease his game seeing not only men were enemies to them but they also to one another whereupon he writeth this distichon Aspicis imbelles tentent quà m fortia damae Praelia tam timidis quanta sit ira feris In mortem parvis concurrere frontibus audent Vis Caesar damis parcere mitte Canes The third Epigram is a complaint of their weak and unarmed state having neither teeth like Bores nor horns like Harts to defend themselves but lie open to the violence of all their enemies Dente timetur Aper defendunt cornua cerâum Imbelles damae quid nisi praeda sumus These are of a whitish yellow colour on the back and are nourished sometime for the pleasure and sometime for the profit of their possessors for they will suffer hunting like a Deer and also be camed for milk like a Goat And hereof I finde no other especial mention among Authors beside that which is already rehearsed Of the WILDE GOAT and the Figure of the Helvetian alpian WILDE or ROCK-GOAT WIlde-goats are transfigured into many similitudes and also dispersed into many Countries beyond the Seas and in the Alpes the picture of the Alpine wilde Goat is here set down They are also to be found in Italy in the Mountains of Fiscela and Tetrica in so much as the tame Goats which are nourished there are
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
also received that a barren Mare shall conceive if you take a bunch of leeks bruised smal and put into a cup of Wine and twelve French flies called Cantharides in water put them two dayes together into the genital of a Mare like a Glyster and afterwards put her to a Horse anointing her secrets with the said ointment two several times when the Horse leaps down from her or else they take Niter Sparrows dung Rozen and Turpentine thrusting the same into the Mares genital whereby it hath been proved that fecundity oftentimes followed Also some use Siler of the Mountains to procure conception in Mares and Cowes and the true sign of conception is when their nature that is the fluent humour out of their secre s ceaseth for a moneth or two or three and Pliny saith that when a Mare is filled she changeth her colour and looketh more red which is to be understood not of her hair but of her skin lips and eyes her hair standing more full then before Then let them be separated from the males exempting them from moist places cold and labour for all these are enemies to her foaling and cause abortment Likewise they must not have too much meat nor too little but only a temperate diet and soft lodging their better ordering is elegantly described in Virgil by these Verses Non illas gravibus quisquam juga ducere plaustris Non saltu superare viam sit passus acri Carpere prata fuga fluviosque innare rapaces Salribus in vacuis pascant plena secundum Flumina muscus ubi viridissima gramine ripa Speluncaeque tegant saxea procubet umbra This is most certain that if a Woman in her flowers touch a Mare with foal or sometime do but see her it causeth to cast her foal if that purgation be the first after her Virginity In like manner if they smell of the snuffe of a Candle or eat Buck-mast or Gentian The Egyptians when they will describe a Woman suffering abortment they picture a Mare treading upon a Wolf for if a Mare kick at a Wolf or tread where a Wolf hath troad she casteth her foale If an Asse cover a Mare which a Horse hath formerly filled there followeth abortment but if a Horse cover a Mare which an Asse hath formerly filled there followeth no abortment because the Horses seed is hotter then the Asses If a Mare be sick of abortment or foaling Polypody mingled with warm water given her in a horn is a present remedy The Scythians when they perceive their Mares to be quick with foale they ride upon them holding opinion that thereby they cast forth their foales with lesse pain and difficulty They carry their young one in their wombs as hath been already said twelve moneths but sometimes they come at eleven moneths and ten dayes and those are commonly males for the males are sooner perfected in the womb then the females and commonly the females are foaled at twelve moneths and ten days and those which tarry longer are unprofitable and not worth education A Mare is most easily delivered of her young among other beasts and beareth most commonly but one at a time yet it hath been seen that twins hath proceeded from her At the time of her delivery she hath lesse purgation of bloud then so great a molde of body can afford and when she hath foaled she devoureth her seconds and also a thing that cleaveth to her foales forehead being a piece of black flesh called Hippomanes neither doth she suffer her young one to suck until she have eaten that for by smelling thereunto the young and old Horses or other of that kind would fall mad and this thing have the imposters of the world used for a Philtre or amorous cup to draw women to love them Virgil speaketh thus of it Quaeritur nascentis Equi de fronte tevulsus Et matris prareptus amor And again Hino demum Hippomanes vero quod nomine dicunt Pastores lentum distillat ab inguinevirus Hippomanes quod saepe malae legerenovercae Miscueruntque berbas non innoxia verba This poison made into a Candle Anaxilaus saith in the burning thereof there shall be a presentation of many monstrons Horses-heads There is very great poison contained in this Hippomanes for the Arcadian Phormis made a Horse of brasse at Olympia put Hippomanes into the same and if the Horses at any time seen this Brazen Horse they were so far inraged with lust that no halters or bands could hold them but breaking all run and leaped upon the said Brazen horse and although it wanted a tail yet would they forsake any beautiful Mare and run to cover it neither when they came unto it and found it by their heels to be sounding and hard brasse would not they despair of copulation but more and more with noise of mouth rage and endevor of body labour to leap upon the same although the slippery brasse gave them no admission or stay of abode upon the back of that substance neither could they be drawn from the said Brazen Image iuntill by the great strength and cruell stripes of the riders they were forcibly driven away Some think this little piece of flesh to cleave to the forehead others to the loins and many to the genitals but howsoever it is an unspeakable part of Gods providence to make the Mares belly a sepulchre for that poison for if it should remain in the males as in the females the whole race of Horses would utterly perish and be destroyed through rage of lust for which cause the keepers and breeders of Horses do diligently observe the time of their Mares foaling and instantly cut off the same from the Colt reserving it in the hoof of a Mare to procure the Stallions to carnal copulation and the Colt from which they cut this piece of flesh they sacrificed it for it is manifest saith Aelianus that the Mare will never love that foal from whence she hath not eaten and consumed this piece of flesh And this poison is not only powerful in brute beasts but also in reasonable men for if at any time by chance or ignorantly they tast hereof they likewise fall to be so mad and praecipitate in lust raging both with gestures and voice that they cast their lustful eyes upon every kind of Women attempting wheresoever they meet them to ravish or ingender with him and besides because of this oppression of their minde their body consumeth and fadeth away for three dayes after the Colt is soaled he can hardly touch the ground with his head It is not good to touch them for they are harmed by often handling only it is profitable that it be suffered with the dam in some warm and large stable so as neither it be vexed with cold nor in danger to be oppressed by the Mare through want of room Also their hoofs must be looked unto lest their dung sticking unto them burn
them afterward when it waxeth stronger turn him out into the field with his dam lest the Mare over-mourn her self for want of her foal for such beasts love their young ones exceedingly After three dayes let the Mare be exercised and rid up and down but with such a pace as the foal may follow her for that shall amend and encrease her milk If the Colt have soft hoofs it will make him run more speedily upon the hard ground or else lay little stones under their feet for by such means their hoofs are hardned and if that prevail not take Swines grease and Brimstone never burned and the stalks of Garlick bruised and mingled all together and therewithal anoint the hoofs The Mountains also are good for the breeding of Colts for two causes first for that in those places their hoofs are hardened and secondly by their continual ascending and descending their bodies are better prepared for induring of labour And thus much may suffice for the educating and nursing of foals For their weaning observe this rule first separate them from their dams twenty four hours together in the next morning let them be admitted to suck their belly full and then removed to be never more suckled at five moneths old begin to teach them to eat bread or hay and at a year old give them Barly and Bran and at two years old wean them utterly Of handling taming or breaking of Horses THey which are appointed to break Horses are called by the Grecians Eporedicae Hippodami and Hippocomi the Latins Equi ones Arulatores and Cociones in Italian lo Rozone Absyrtus is of opinion that foals are to be used to hand and to be begun to be tamed at 18 moneths old not to be backed but only tyed by the head in a halter to a rack or manger so that it may not be terrified for any extraordinary noise for which cause they use them to brakes but the best time is at three years old as Cresce ãâ¦ã ensis teacheth in many Chapters wherefore when they begin to be handled let him touch the rough parts of his body as the mane and other places wherein the Horse taketh delight to be handled neither let him be over severe and Tyrannous and seek to overcome the beast by stripes but as Cicero saith by fair means or by hunger and famine Some have used to handle them sucking and to hang up in their presence bits and bridles that so by the sight and hearing the gingling thereof in their ears they might grow more familiar And when they came to hand to lay upon their backs a little boy flat on his belly and afterward to make him sit upon him formally holding him by the head and this they do at three year old but commit him to no labour untill he be four year old yet domestical and small Horses for ordinary use are tamed at two year old and the best time for the effecting hereof is in the moneth of March. It is also good in riding of a young Horse to light often and to get up again then let him bring him home and use him to the stable the bottom whereof is good to be paved with round stones or else planks of Oak strewing litter upon it when he lyeth down that so he may lie soft and stand hard It is also good to be regarded that the plankes be so laid as the Urine may continually run off from them having a little close ditch to receive it that so the Horses feet may not be hurt thereby and a good Master of Horses must oftentimes go into his stable that so he may observe the usage of this beast The manger also ought to be kept continually clean for the receiving of his provender that so no filth or noisome thing be mingled therewith there ought also to be partitions in it that so every beast may eat his own allowance for greedy Horses do not only speedily raven up their own meat but also rob their fellows Others again have such weak stomachs that they are offended with the breath of their fellows and will not eat except they eat alone The rack also is to be placed according to their stature that so their throat may not be too much extended by reaching high nor their eyes or head troubled because it is placed too low There ought also to be much light in the stable lest the beast accustomed to darkness be offended at the Sun light and wink over much being not able to indure the beams when he is led abroad but yet the stable must be warm and not hot for although heat do preserve fatness yet it bringeth indigestion and hurteth a Horses nature therefore in the Winter time the stable must be so ordered as the beast may not be offended or fall into diseases by overmuch heat or suddain cold In the Summer time let them lodge both night and day in the open air This also in stabling of your Horses must be avoided namely the sties of Swine for the stink the breath the gruntling of Hogs is abominable for Horses and nature hath framed no sympathy or concord betwixt the noble and couragious spirit of a Horse and the beastly sluggish condition of a Swine Remove also far away from your Horses stables all kinde of fowl which were wont to haunt those places to gather up the remnant grains of their provender leaving behind them their little feathers which if the Horse lick up in his meat stick in his throat or else their excrements which procureth the looseness of his belly It must also be regarded that the stable must be kept neat sweet and clean so as in absence of the Horse it may not lie like a place for Swine The instruments also and implements thereof such as are the Horse cloathes the Curry-combs the Mane-combs Saddles and Bridles be disposed and hung up in order behind the Horse so as it may neither trouble him eating or lying nor yet give him occasion to gnaw eat and devour them to their own damage or hurt for such is the nature of some wanton Horses to pull asunder and destroy whatsoever they can reach They are therefore oftentimes to be exercised and backed and principally to be kept in a good diet for want of food dejecteth the spirit of the noblest Horse and also maketh the mean Horse to be of no use but on the contrary a good diet doth not only make a mean Horse to be serviceable but also continue the worth and value of the beast which thing Poets considered when they fained that Arion the Horse of Neptune and some others were made by Ceres the Goddess of Corn which any mean witted man may interpret to signifie that by abundance of provender the nature of Horses was so far advanced above ordinary that like the Sons of the Gods they perform incredible things whether therefore they eat chaffe or hay or grasse or grain according to the diversities of Countries
Beast is much delighted neither must he be tyed or drawn too hard till the Rider be seated Look also often to the girths that they wring not the sides or pull off the skin Of Riding and sitting on Horseback WHen you are to get up and mount on Horseback take hold on the lower part of the Bridle neer the Bit with the left hand with such a distance as may both keep him from rising nor give him offence if you take advantage to get into the Saddle and with the right hand take the rains on the top of the shoulders and the mane and so hold them as you give no check to the Horses mouth in mounting there are other rules for this among Riders wherewithal I will not meddle only it is good to use your Horse to backing both sadled and bare as well from the plain ground as from blocks and risings invented for the ease of man Therefore before you go to Horseback first stroke your Horse and make much of him with gentle words or other convenient sound which the Horse understandeth and so will he stand more willingly till you be on his back for this thing there is in Plutarch an excellent story of Alexander the great when Bucephalus was first of all presented to his Father King Philip by a Thessalian called Philonix For when the King was perswaded to go forth into the field to try the qualities of this beast which was so highly commended for rare parts and valued at such a price as none but a King might yeeld for him then the Horse began to snort and kick and to admit no man to come unto him within the length of the rains but kept aloft like a wilde and untamed Horse yeelding no obedience to voice or other signes of the Riders whereat the King fell exceeding angry and bid them lead away the unruly and untamed Horse Alexander being present complained of the ignorance and fearfulness of the Riders and that they were the cause why such a generous and gallant beast was no better manned At the hearing whereof King Philip smiled and yet so carryed himself as though he had not heard the words of his Son untill Alexander repeated his saying the second time whereunto his Father replyed What sir Boy will you make your self more skilfull then these old cunning Riders will you lay on them an imputation of fear and ignorance Yes said Alexander I will adventure to handle this Horse better then any other Yea but said Philip what punishment then wilt thou undergo if thou fail and perform not what thou hast said What punishment said Alexander why I will give them the price of the Horse Whereat the King laughed and struck up the wager and so had Alexander the rains of the Horse delivered to him who presently turned him about against the Sun-rising that so he might not be terrified with the shadow of the beholders and so led him up and down softly two or three turns and at last wan the Horse to hand which he gently stroked and applauded and when he had gotten perfect intelligence and understanding of the Horses stomach he cast off his cloak and addressed himself to mount on his back so holding the rains and bearing his hand and whole body as he did not check or pinch the Horses mouth so he inclined him first of all to âay away his stirred and angry minde and afterward paced him to and fro gently which the Horse endured At last he put Spurs unto him and made him run leap carreer and curvet to the terrour at the first of all the beholders and afterward to the singular admiration and praise of himself which caused the company or train to applaude this fact and forced the old man his Father to send forth tears for joy and when Alexander descended from his Horse he could not contain himself but he must needs go kisse and embrace such a Son whereby it is manifest that when a Man is to ride on a generous spirited Horse he shall bend him to endure the burthen by gentleness and familiarity so as the Beast may still know and love his Rider Likewise when the Master mounteth it is requisite that the servant be on the other side of the Horse to hold the stirrop for so shall he get up more surely and set himself more softly Some Horses are taught to bend their knees to take up their aged and sick Masters that so they may be the lesse offended in ascending to their backs and this custom saith Pollux did first of all begin among the Persians The ancient Germans were so singularly exercised in Horsemanship that standing upon the ground and holding a Spear or Lance in their hands they mounted without other stirrop or vantage upon their Horses backs and not only when they were ordinary attired in common garments but then also when they were armed though Julius Caesar take from them all glory of Chivalry yet now adayes the invention of Saddles with stirrops is most easie both for Horse and Horsemen being then better the Pelethronian invention time When the Rider is in his Saddle and is well seated he must not sit as in a Chair or Chariot bended together but rather keep his body upright only bowing outward his knees for so shall he be better able to defend himself or offend his adversary for he must rather seem to stand then to sit on horseback The Rider or Master of Horses must spare his Horse in the heat of Summer about Dog-dayes and in the cold of Winter and never at any time to Ride past the twylight of the evening The Horse being empty is more prone to make water then being full and therefore must not be hindered in that desire and alway after his staling ride him not too fast untill his nerves which were extended to let forth the Urine be contracted setled and drawn together again If in the Winter time a Horse be to passe over a foord of water which will ascend up above his belly let him stale first lest he fall into the Strangury and also be a little eased of his load There is no beast that rejoyceth more in celerity and swiftness then a Horse because so soon as he is turned out of hand he instantly runneth away speedily and doth walke softly as at other times and this is a pleasure to them except when they are provoked above their desires and the counsell of Xenophon when you are to Ride fast or for a wager is this bend the upper part of the body forward stretching out the hand which carryeth the rains now drawing it in and then letting it at length again and therefore it is good in such cases to use short rains and if the Horse in his course stretch forth the rains of his own accord then is it a sign of an unskilful Rider or of a weak and tireable Horse Add not Spurs but in great necessity but guide and provoke him with
Knights upper garment to be called a mantle for all the Persians were Horsemen The noblest Horses and such as could run most speedily and swiftly were joyned together in chariots for races courses spectacles games and combates for great values and prizes Nempe volucrem Siâ laudamus equum facili cui plurima palma Fervet exultat reuco victori circo And again Ovid saith Non ego nobilium veris spectator equorum And Horace Nec te nobilium sugiat certamen equorum There was one Anniceris a Cyrenian most skilful in this practise and according to the vain humors of men was not a little proud hereof and for his love to Plato would needs in the Academy shew him and his Scholars his skill and therefore joyning his Horses and Chariot together made many courses with such an even and delineate proportion that his Horses and wheels never wandered a hair breadth from the circle or place limited but alway kept the same road and footsteps whereat every one marvelled but Plato reproved the double diligence and vain practice of the man saying to him in this manner It cannot be that a man which hath travelled and laboured so much in an art or skill of no worth or use in the Common-wealth that ever he can addict his mind to grave serious and profitable business for while he applyeth all his parts and powers of body and soul to this he is the lesse able and more unapt to those things which are alone more worthy of admiration The ancient custom was to use other mens Horses in this combate and therefore in the funeral of Patroclus Homer bringeth in Menelaus using the Horse of Agamemnon There were four several places wherein these games of Horses and Chariots were wont to be observed and kept and they were called after these places Olympia Pythis Nemea and Is ãâ¦ã ia and of all these the Olympiads were the chief whereof all stories are full for they were celebrated in Olympus every fifth year inclusively that is after the end of every fourth year The writers of Chronicles do agree that the games of Olympus were first instituted by Hercules in the 2752. year of the world beginning the world from Noahs flood and they begin to record and number the first Olympiad to be about the 3185. year of the world about seventeen year before the building of Rome There were of these Olympiads 328. and the last of these by computation or account fell about the year of our Lord 534. after the birth of Jesus Christ the blessed Saviour of the world The perfection of these games began the twenty five Olympiad at what time Pagondas the Tâeban was pronounced victor for then were swift Horses brought into the games and were called Teleioi that is perfect in agility and growth and these are called by Pindarus Monââpycia afterward came in Synaris with two Horses and in succession both Colts Mares and Mules their courses are thus expressed by Virgil Ergo animos ãâã notabis Et quis cuique dolor victo quae gloria palmae Nonne vides cum praecipâti certamine campum Corripuere ruuntque effusâ carcere currus Cum spes ãâã rectae ââverium exultantiaque haurit Cârda pavor pulsans illi instant verbere torte Et proni dant lora volat vi fervidus ax ãâã Jamque humiles jamque elati sublime videntur Aera per vacuum ferri atque assurgere in auras Nec mora nec requies at fulva nimbus ãâã Tollitur humescunt spuâis flatuque sequentââ Tantus amor laudum tantae est victoria curae Sin ad bella magis studium turmasque ferâces Aut Alphaearâtis praelâbi flumina Pisae Et Jâvis in luce currus agitare volantes Primus equi labor est animos atque arma viderâ Bellantum lituosque pati tractuque gementem Ferre rota ãâ¦ã stabulâ frenos audire sonantes And Horace expresseth it in this manner Sunt quos curriculo pulverem Olympicum Collegisse juvat metaque fervidis Evitata rotis palmaque nobilis Terrarum dominos evehit ad deor Women were wont to be excluded from these games untill Cynisca the daughter of Archidamus King of the Spartans first of all other women nourished and trained Horses for these currule and Chariot games and when she brought her Horses to Olympus she obtained the prize therefore her Horses were consecrated to Jupiter Olympius and their figures remained in Brass in his Temple It is also said that Echarates a Thessalian overcame in the Olympian games with a Mare great with foal And it is also reported that Miliiades the son of Cimon Stesagora one of the ten Captains of Athens ran away from Pisistratus the Tyrant and in the time of his absence he was twice Victor at Olympus by four Mares the first time he bestowed the glory upon his cousen German Miliiades his mothers brothers son and the second time he took it to himself for which cause he was slain by the sons of Pisistratus his Mares were also buryed over against him with an inscription that they had won four games in Olympus so that it appeared he ran divers times and never missed victory At Athens they observed these courses with Horses in honour of Theseus and called the place of the running Hippodromus The Latines call it Stadium and Curriculum and it was appointed in some plain valley according to the proverb Equus in planiciem in the midst whereof was a building called Circus whereon the beholders stood to look upon the pastime and there were also places to contain the Horses and Chariots till they were turned out to run called Carceres according to the verses of Silius Sic ubi prosiluit piceo de carcere praeceps Ante suos it victor Equus And Horace also Vt cum carceribus missos rapit ungula currus Instat equis auriga suos vincentibus illum Praeteritum temnens extremos inter euntem And hereof came the proverb A carceribus ad calcem signifying from beginning of the race to the latter end Erichthonius invented a Chariot called Harma and was the first that ever ran in Olympus with four Horses in the same of whom Virgill writeth thus Primus Erichthonius currus quatuor ausus Jungere Equos rapidisque insistere victor And from hence came the tearm Quadriga for a Chariot with four Horses There was a Chariot in Athens drawn by one Horse and the games thereof were called Polemysteria Likewise at Rome in the Consul-feasts celebrated for the honour of Neptune they ran with Horses both joyned and single There were likewise games at Rome called Equitia and Equitia celebrated every year the twelfth of the Calends of May wherein after the Horses they coursed Foxes tyed to pieces of wood set on fire this is called in Latine also Turneamentum and in Italian by Scoppa Hagiâstra and in French Formierim There is also a play with Horses for children cal'd Troia first invented by Ascanius when he besieged Alba and by him
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 ãâ¦ã 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
out air which killeth men Pausanias writeth that in the Temple of Gabales there is the picture of a Horse which from his breast backwards is like a Whale Lampsacenus writeth that in the Scythian Ocean there are Islands wherein the people are called Hippopodes having the bodies of men but the feet of Horses and Lamia hereafter to be declared hath the feet of a Horse but in other things the members of a Goat and thus much for the several kindes of Horses both for them that are properly so called and also for any other which like bastards retain any resemblance of nature with this Noble and profitable kinde of Beast Of the Diet of Horses and their length of life HAving thus discoursed of the kindes of Horses and their several accidents and uses both for War and Peace pleasure and necessity now likewise it followeth that we should proceed to their diet and manner of feeding wherein we are first of all to consider that the natural constitution of a Horse is hot and temperate Hot because of his Levity and Velocity and length of life temperate because he is docible pleasant and gentle towards his Master and Keeper He therefore that will keep Horses must provide for them abundance of meat for all other Cattel may be pinched without any great danger only Horses can endure no penury Varro saith that in feeding of Horses we must consider three things First of all what food the Countrey wherein we live doth yeeld Secondly when it must be given Thirdly by whom but specially the place of feeding Horses is to be considered for although Goats can live in the Mountains better then in the green fields yet Horses live better in the green fields then they can in the Mountains For which cause when we chuse pasture for Horses we must see that it be fat such as groweth in Meddows that in the Winter time it may be Sunny and in the Summer it may be open and cold neither so soft under-foot but that the Horses hoofs may feel some hardness for Horses Mules and Asses do love well green grass and fruits yet principally they grow fat with drinking when they are in the stables let them have dry Hây A Mare when she hath foaled give her Barly and generally at all times in the Winter season Bullimung or a mixture of all kindes of grain is fit for them in the house according to these verses of Nemtian Inde ubi pubentes calamos duravert aestas Lacten-sque urens herbas siccaverit omnem Mensibus humorem culmisque armarit aristas Ordea tum paleasque leves praebere memento Pulvere quinetiam puras secernere fruges Cura sit atque toros manibus percurrere equorum Gaudeat ut plausu sonipes letumque relaxit Corpus altores rapiat per viscera succos Id curent famuli comitumque animosa juventus We have shewed already that they must have straw or litter to ly upon and Pollux doth set down the kindes of meats for Horses as barley hay or French wheat rice and hay for hard and dry meat is fittest for Horses because it doth not fill them with winde but all green meat is the less approved by reason of inflamation Three-leaved grass is also good for Horses especially if they be young for chaffe hay grass and oats are their natural and pleasing food and although grass be moist yet in the young age of a Horse he delights in moist meats for they stretch out his belly and encrease his growth but when he is elder then ought he to be nourished with dryer food as chaff Barley Oats and such things For although chaff by reason of their dryness make not a Horse fat yet do they preserve him in perfect strength for all hard things which are dissolved with difficulty do retain their force of nutriment longer but softer meats do not so therefore the best dyet or habitude for Horses is to retain the mean betwixt fatness and leanness For fatness ministreth many humors to the nourishment of sickness and leanness diminisheth natural strength maketh the body deformed In some Countreys they give their Horses Vine branches in the Autumn to move their bellies and increase their strength The herb Medica which aboundeth in Media is very nourishable to Horses but the first stalks are refused saith Aristotle the residue being watered with stinking water is most commodious In Italy they fat their Horses with Trifoly in Calabria with Sulla or Arthritica and the Thracians near the River Strymon with a green Thistle In the Spring time give your younger Horses Bullimung for many dayes together for that will not only make them fat but also purge their bellies for this purgation is most necessary for Horses which is called soyling and ought to continue ten days together without any other meat giving them the eleventh day a little Barley and so forward to the fourteenth after which day continue them in that dyet ten days longer and then bring them forth to exercise a little and when as they sweat anoint them with Oyl and if the weather be cold keep a fire in the stable And you must remember when the Horse beginneth to purge that he be kept from Barley and drink and give him green meat or Bullimung whereof that is best that groweth near the Sea side But if the Horse go to soil in April after five days bring him forth and wash him all over with water then wiping his hair from all wet and filth and loose hairs pour upon him Wine and Oyl presling it smooth upon his back down to his skin so let him be wiped all over again and carryed into the stable to be dieted with Masline or Bullimung as before except he be troubled with the Glanders and then he must not feed on it in the day time lest through the heat of the Sun he fall into the mangie or into madness It is also requisite that while we feed our Horses with green Corn they be let bloud in the veins of the breast and also cut in the roof of their mouths that so those places being emptyed which were stuffed with corruption the vacuity may be replenished with better bloud a Horse thus dyeted shall not only live in more health and free from sickness but also be more strong to undergo his labour With the bloud that cometh out of him mingled with Nitre Vinegar and Oyl you shall anoint him all over if so be he be subject to the Glaunders or to the Mangie and then keep him in the stable five days together suffering no Curri combe to come upon him untill the sixt day feeding him in the mean time with green Corn or Bullimung and then bring him forth again washing him all over with water and rubbing him with a hard whisp untill the humor or moistures be wholly wiped off and he fed as before fourteen days together If you please not to keep him in the stable then in the
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
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 ãâ¦ã 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 âoice 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 Maeâalus 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 Aâuntius 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
with Wool and make him this purging drink Take of Radish roots two ounces of the root of the herb called in Latine Panex or Panaces and of Scammony of each one ounce beat all these things together and boyl them in a quart of Honey and at sundry times as you shall see it needful give him a good spoonful or two of this in a quart of Ale luke-warm whereunto would be put three or four spoonfuls of Oyl It is good also to blow the powder of Motherwort or of Pyrethrum up into his nostrils and if the disease do continue still for all this then it shall be needful to pierce the skin of his fore-head in divers places with a hot iron and to let out the humors oppressing his brain Of the Night-mars THis is a disease oppressing either Man or Beast in the night season when he sleepeth so as he cannot draw his breath and is called of the Latines Iucubus It cometh of a continual crudity or raw digestion of the stomach from whence gross vapours ascending up into the head do oppress the brain and all the sensitive powers so as they cannot do their office in giving perfect feeling and moving to the body And if this disease chancing often to a man be not cured in time it may perhaps grow to a worse mischief as to the Falling-evil Madness or Apoplexy But I could never learn that Horses were subject to this disease neither by relation nor yet by reading but only in an old English Writer who sheweth neither cause nor signes how to know when a Horse hath it but only teacheth how to cure it with a food foolish charm which because it may perhaps make you gentle Reader to laugh as well as it did me for recreation sake I will here rehearse it Take a flint stone that hath a hole of his own kinde and bang it over him and write in a bill In nomine patris c. Saint George our Ladies Knight He walked day so did he night Vntil âe her found He her beat and he her bound Till truly her trâath she him plight That she would not come within the night There as Saint George our Ladies Knight Named was three times Saint George And hang this Scripture over him and let him alone with such proper charme as this is the ãâã Fryers in times past were wont to charm the money out of plain folke purses Of the Apoplexy THe Apoplexy is a disease depriving all the whole body of sense and moving And if it deprive but part of the body then it is called of the Latines by the Greek name Paralysis in our tongue a Palsie It proceeds of cold gross and tough humors oppressing the brain all at once which may breed partly of crudities and raw digestion and partly by means of some hurt in the head taken by a fall stripe or otherwise As touching Apoplexy few or none writing of Horse-âleach-craft do make any mention thereof but of the Palsie Vegetius writeth in this manner A Horse saith he may have the Palsie as well as a man which is known by these signes He will go ãâ¦ã ing and ãâã like a Crab carrying his neck awry as if it were broken and goeth crookedly with his legs beating his head against the wals and yet forsaketh not his meat nor drink and his provender seemeth moist and wet The cure Let him bloud in the temple vein on the contrary side of the ârying of his neck and anoint his neck with comfortable Oyntment and splent it with splents of wood to make it stand right and let him stand in a warm stable and give him such drinks as are recited in the next chapter following But if all this profiteth not then draw his neck with a hot iron on the contrary side that is to say on the whole side from the neather part of the ear down to the shoulders and draw also a good long strike on his temple on that side and on the other temple make him a little star in this sort * and from his reins to his mid back draw little lines in manner of a ragged staffe and that will heal him Of the Cramp or Convulsion of the Sinews and Muscles A Convulsion or Cramp is a forcible and painful contraction or drawing together of the sinews and muscles which do happen sometime through the whole body and sometime but in one part or member only And according as the body may be diversly drawn so do the Physitians and also mine Authors that write of Horse-leech-craft give it divers names For if the body be drawn forward then they call it in Greek Emprosthotonos in Latine Tensio ad anteriora And if the body be drawn back it is called in Greek Opisthotonos in Latine Tensio ad posteriora But if the body he stark and strait bowing neither forward nor backward then it is called simply in Greek Tetanos in Latine Distensio or Rigor which names also are applyed to the like Convulsions of the neck Notwithstanding Vegetius writing of this disease entituleth his chapters de Roborosis a strange tearm and not to be found again in any other Author A Convulsion as I said before may chance as well to one part or member of the body as to the whole body as to the eye to the skin of the fore head to the roots of the tongue to the jaws to the lips to the arm hand or leg that is to say whensoever the sinew or muscle serving to the moving of that part is evill affected or grieved Of which Convulsions though there be many divers causes yet Hippocrates bringeth them all into two that is to say into fulness and emptiness for when a Convulsion proceedeth either of some inflamation of superfluous eating or drinking or for lack of due purgation or of overmuch rest and lack of exercise all such causes are to be referred to repletion or fulness But if a Convulsion come by means of over-much purging or bleeding or much watching extream labour long fasting or by wounding or pricking of the sinews then all such causes are to be referred unto emptiness And if the Convulsion proceed of fulness it chanceth suddenly and all at once but if of emptiness then it cometh by little and little and leisurely Besides these kindes of Convulsions there is also chancing many times in a mans fingers legs and toes another kinde of Convulsion which may be called a windy Convulsion for that it proceeds of some gross or tough vapour entred into the branches of the sinews which maketh them to swell like a Lute string in moist weather which though it be very painful for the time yet it may be soon driven away by chasing or rubbing the member grieved with a warm cloth And this kinde of Convulsion or Cramp chanceth also many times to a Horses hinder-legs standing in the stable For I have seen some my self that have had one of their hinder-legs drawn up with the Cramp almost to the belly
hath any Pearl growing in his eye or thin film covering the ball of his eye then Russius would have you take of Pumice stone of Tarturam and of sal Gemmâ of each like weight and being beaten into very fine powder to blow a little of that in his eye continuing so to do every day once or twice untill he be whole Martin saith that he always used to blow a little Sandivoir into the eye once a day which simple he affirmeth to be of such force as it will break any Pearl or Web in short space and make the eye very clear and fair Russius amongst a number of other medicines praiseth most of all the powder of a black flint stone Of the Pin and Web and other dimness FOr to cure the Pin Web Pearl Film or other dimness use this means following Take of Sandivoir the powder of burnt Allum and the powder of black Flint-stone of each like quantity and once a day blow a little thereof into the Horses eye and it will wear away such imperfect matter and make the eye clear Of the Haw called of the Italians Ilunghia de gli occhi THis is a gristle covering sometime more then one half of the eye It proceedeth of gross and tough humors descending out of the head which Haw as Martin saith would be cut away in this sort First pull both the eye-lids open with two several threds stirched with a needle to either of the lids Then catch hold of the Haw with another needle and thred and pull it out so far as you may cut it round the bredth of a penny and leave the black behinde For by cutting away too much of the fat and black of the eye the Horse many times becometh blear-eyed And the Haw being clean taken away squirt a little white Wine or Beer into his eye Another of the Haw A Haw is a gross gristle growing under the eye of a Horse and covering more then one half of his sight which if he be suffered will in short time perish the eye the cure is thus Lay your thumb under his eye in the very hollow then with your finger pull down the lid and with a sharp needle and thred take hold of the Haw and plucking it out with a sharp knife cut it away the compass of a penny or more that done wash the eye with a little Beer Of Lunatich Eyes VEgetius writeth De oculo Lunatico but he sheweth neither cause nor signes thereof but only saith that the old men tearmed it so because it maketh the eye sometime to look as though it were covered with white and sometime clear Martin saith that the Horse that hath this disease is blinde at certain times of the Moon insomuch that he seeth almost nothing at all during that time and then his eyes will look yellowish yea and somewhat reddish which disease according to Martin is to be cured in this fort First use the platster mentioned before in the chapter of Waterish or Weeping eyes in such order as is there prescribed and then with a sharp knife make two slits on both sides of his head an inch long somewhat towards the nose a handful beneath the eyes not touching the vein and with a cornet loosen the skin upward the breadth of a groat and thrust therein a round peece of leather as broad as a two penny peece with a hole in the midst to keep the hole open and look to it once a day that the matter may not be stopped but continually run the space of ten days then take the leather out and healthe wound with a little flax dipt in the salve here following Take of Turpentine of Honey of Wax of each like quantity and boyl them together which being a little warmed will be liquid to serve your purpose and take not away the plaisters from the temples untill they fall away of themselves which being fallen then with a small hot drawing Iron make a star in the midst of each temple ãâ¦ã where the plaister did ly Which star would have âhole in the midst made with the button end of your drawing Iron Another of Lunatick or Moon-eyes OF these Lunatick eyes I have known divers they are blinde at certain times of the Moon they are very red fiery and full of film they come with over-riding and extraordinary heat and fury the cure of them is thus Lay upon the Temples of his head a plaister of Bitch Rozen and Mastick molten together very exceeding hot then with a little round Iron made for the purpose burn three or four holes an inch or more underneath his eyes and anoint those holes every day with Hogs grease then put it in his eyes every day with a little Honey and in short time he will recover his sight Of the Canker in the Eye THis cometh of a ranck and corrupt bloud descending from the head into the eye The signes You shall see red pimples some small and some great both within and without upon the eye-lids and all the eye will look red and be full of corrupt matter The cure according to Martin is thus First let him bloud on that side the neck that the eye is grieved the quantity of a pottle Then take of Roch Allum of green Copperas of each half a pound of white Copperas one ounce and boil them in three pintes of running water untill the half be consumed then take it from the fire and once a day wash his eye with this water being made luke-warm with a fine linnen cloth and cleanse the eye therewith so oft as it may look raw continuing thus to do every day untill it be whole Of diseases incident to the Ears and Poll of the head and first of aâ Impostume in the Ear. IMpostumes breed either by reason of some blow or bruising or else of evill humors congealed in the ear by some extream cold the signes be apparent by the burning and painful swelling of the ear and part thereabout The cure according to Martin is in this sort First ripe the Impostume with this plaister Take of Linseed beaten into powder of Wheat flowre of each half a pinte of Honey a pinte of Hogs grease or Barrows grease one pound Warm all these things together in an earthen pot and stir them continually with a flat stick or slice untill they be throughly mingled and incorporated together and then spread some of this plaister being warm upon a peece of linnen cloth or soft white leather so broad as the swelling and no more and lay it warm unto it and so let it remain one whole day and then renew it with fresh Ointment continuing so to do untill it break then lance the sore so that it may have passage downward and tent it to the bottom with a tent of flax dipt in this Ointment Take of Mel Rosatum of Oyl Olive and Turpentine of each two ounces and mingle them together and make him a
biggen of Canvas to close in the sore so as the tent with the Ointment may abide within renewing the tent once a day untill it be whole But if the Horse have pain in his ears without any great swelling or Impostumation then thrust in a little black Wooll dipt in Oyl of Camomile and that wilâ heal it Of the Poll evill THis is a disease like a Fistula growing betwixt the ears and the poll or nape of the neck and proceedeth of evill humors gathered together in that place or else of some blow or bruise for that is the weakest and tenderest part of all the head and therefore soonest offended which rude Carters do little consider whilest in their fury they beat their Horses upon that place of the head with their whip-stocks and therefore no Horse is more subject to this disease then the Cart-horse and this disease cometh most in Winter season The signes You shall perceive it by the swelling of the place which by continuance of time will break it self rotting more inward then outward and therefore is more perillous if it be not cured in time and the sooner it be taken in hand the better The cure according to Martin is thus If it be not broken ripe it with a plaister of Hogs grease laid unto it so hot as may be and make a biggen for the Poll of his head to keep it from cold which biggen would have two holes open so as his âars may stand out and renew the plaister every day once untill it break keeping the sore place as warm as may be And if you see that it will not break so soon as you would have it then there as it is softest and most meetest to be opened take a round hot Iron as big as your little finger and sharp at the point and two inches beneath that soft place thrust it in a good deepness upward so as the point of the Iron may come out at the ripest place to the intent that the matter may descend downward and come at the neather hole which would be always kept open and therefore tent it with a tent of flax dipt in Hogs grease and lay a plaister of Hogs grease also upon the same renewing it every day once the space of four days which is done chiefly to kill the heat of the fire Then at the four days end take of Turpentine half a pound clean washed in nine sundry waters and after that throughly dryed by thrusting out the water with a slice on the dishes side then put thereunto two yolks of Egges and a little Saffron and mingle them well together that done search the depth of the hole with a whole quill and make a tent of a piece of spunge so long as it may reach the bottom and so big as it may fill the wound and anoint the tent with the aforesaid Ointment and thrust it into the wound either with that quill or else by winding it up with your finger and thumb by little and little untill you have thrust it home and lay on the plaister of Hogs grease made luke-warm renuing it every day once or twice untill it be whole But if the swelling cease then you need not to use the plaister but only to tent it and as the matter decreaseth so make your tent every day lesser and lesser untill the wound be perfectly whole Of the Vives THe Vives be certain kernels growing under the Horses ear proceeding of some rank or corrupt bloud resorting to the place which within are full of little white grains like white salt kernels The Italians call them Vivole which if they be suffered to grow Laurentius Russius saith that they will grievously pain the Horse in his throat so as he shall not be able to swallow his meat nor to breath They be easie to know for they may be felt and also seen The cure according unto Martin is in this sort First draw them down in the midst with a hot iron from the root of the ear so far as the tip of the ear will reach being puld down and under the root again draw two strikes on each side like a broad arrow head then in the midst of the first line lance them with a lancet and taking hold of the kernels with a pair of pinsons pull them so far forward as you may cut the kernels out without hurting the vein that done fill the hole with white Salt But Hierocles would have them to be cured in this sort Take a piece of Spunge sowsed well in strong Vinegar and binde that to the sore renewing it twice a day untill it hath rotted the kernels that done lance the neathermost part where the matter lyeth and let it out and then fill it up with Salt finely brayed and the next day wash all the filth away with warm water and anoint the place with Honey and Fitchflowre mingled together But beware you touch none of the kernels with your bare finger for fear of venoming the place which is very apt for a Fistula to breed in Another of the Vives THe Vives be certain kernels growing under the Horses ear which come of corrupt bloud the cure is diversly spoke and written of but this is the best mean which I have tryed that if you finde the kernels to enflame and grieve the Horse take a handful of Sorrel and lay it in a Bur-dock leaf and rost it in the hot embers like a Warden then being taken out of the fire apply it so hot as may be to the fore part suffering it to ly thereunto the space of a day and a night and then renew it till such time that it ripen and break the sore which it will in short space do When it is broken and the vilde matter taken away you shall heal up the sore place with the yolk of an Egge half a spoonful of Honey and as much Wheat-flowre as will serve to make it thick plaister-wise which being bound thereunto will in three or four days heal the same Of the Cankerous Ulcer in the Nose THis disease is a fretting humor eating and consuming the flesh and making it all raw within and not being holpen in time will eat through the gristle of the nose It cometh of corrupt bloud or else of sharp humors ingendered by means of some extream cold The signes be these He will bleed at the nose and all the flesh within will be raw and filthy stinking savours and matter will come out at the nose The cure according to Martin is thus Take of green Copperas of Allum of each one pound of white Copperas one quartern and boil these in a pottle of running water untill a pinte be consumed then take it off and put thereunto half a pinte of Honey then cause his head to be holden up with a drinking staffe and âquirt into his nostrils with a squirt of brass or rather of Elder some of this water being luke-warm three or four times one after
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 Aâsyrtus 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 ãâ¦ã 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 Solanâm 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 ãâ¦ã g. THis term Incording is borrowed of the ãâ¦ã say as Bursten and might ãâ¦ã his âuts falleth down into the ãâ¦ã The Italians as I take it did call it ãâã because the âut follows the string of the stone called of them ãâã or ãâã whereof ãâã â ãâã 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 âoâe that either Man or Beast may be Bursten diversty and according to the names of the pants grieved the Physitians do give it diâers 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 ãâã that is to say Gut-bursten But if the caul falldown into the cod then it is called of the Physitians ãâ¦ã 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 âlow 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 ãâ¦ã câle 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 fâesh cleaving the thin skins or panicles of the stones and then it is called of the Physitians S ãâ¦ã that is to say Flesh-bursten But forasmuch as none of mine Authors Marâiâ 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 ãâã 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 âither 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 shoâing and leaâing 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
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 ãâã or wrinch whereby the tender sinews are grieved or rather bowed as Russius saith whereof it is called in Italian Curba ãâã ãâã 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 ãâã 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 sâwter 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 ãâã 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 ãâã and also in time it will show by the wrinkles on his hoof and the hoof will grow thick and ãâã he will not be able to tread on stones or hard ground nor well to travel but stumblâ and fall The cure is ãâã Take and pare his feet so thin as may be then lost two or three Egges in the Embers very hard ãâã being extreme hot taken out of five trush them in his foot and then clap a piece of Leather there ãâã 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
again upon that continuing so to do every day once until it be hardned and let not the Horse come in any wet until he be whole Of Accloyd or Prickt ACcloyd is a hurt that cometh of shooing when a Smith driveth a nail in the quick which will make him to halt And the cure is to take off the shooe and to cut the hoof away to lay the sore bare then lay to it Wax Turpentine and Deer-sewet which will heal it Of the Fig. IF a Horse having received any hurt as before is said by nail bone splent or stone or otherwise in the sole of his foot and not be well dressed and perfectly cured there will grow in that place a certain superfluous piece of flesh like a Fig and it will have little grains in it like a fig and therefore is rightly called of the Italians Vnfico that is to say a fig. The cure whereof according to Martin is thus Cut it clean away with a hot Iron and keep the flesh down with Turpentine Hogs-greese and a little Wax laid on with Tow or Flax and stop the hole hard that the flesh rise not renewing it once a day until it be whole Of a Retreat THis is the pricking of a nail not well driven in the shooing and therefore pulled out again by the Smith and is called of the Italians Tratta messa The cause of the pricking may be partly the rash driving of the Smith and partly the weakness of the nail or the hollowness of the nail in the shank For if it be too weak the point many times bendeth awry into the quick when it should go right forth It flatteth and shivereth in the driving into two parts whereof one part raleth the quick in pulling out or else perhaps breaketh clean asunder and so remaineth still behinde and this kinde of pricking is worse than the cloying because it will ranckle worse by reason of the flaw of Iron remaining in the flesh The signes be these If the Smith that driveth such a nail be so lewd as he will not look unto it before the Horse depart then there is no way to know it but by the halting of the Horse and searching the hoof first with a hammer by knocking upon every clinging For when you knock upon that nail where the grief is the Horse will shrink up his foot And if that will not serve then pinch or gripe the hoof with a pair of pinsons round about until you have found the place grieved The cure according to Martin is thus First pull off the shooe and then open the place grieved with a Butter or Drawer so as you may perceive by feeling or seeing whether there be any piece of nail or not if there be to pull it out and to stop the hole with Turpentine Wax and Sheeps-sewet molten together and so poured hot into the hole and then lay a little Tow upon it and clap on the shooe again renewing it thus every day until it be whole during which time let not the Horse come in any wet and it must be so stopped though it be but prickt without any piece of nail remaining And if for lack of looking to it in time this retreat cause the hoof to break above then cure it with the Plaister restrictive in such order as is mentioned in the last place saving one before this Of Cloying CLoying is the pricking of a whole nail called of the Italians Inchiodatura passing through the quick and remaining still in the same and is clenched as other nails be and so causeth the Horse to halt The grieved place is known by searching with the hammer and pinsons as is before said If the Horse halt immediately then pull off his shooe and open the hole until it begin to bleed and stop it with the Ointment aforesaid in the same page of the Retreat and clap on the shooe again and the hoof may be so good and the harm so little as you may travel him immediately upon it but if he be ranckled then renew the stopping every day once let him come in no wet until it be whole Of loosening the Hoof. THis is a parting of the hoof from the cronet called of the Italians Dissolatura del unghia which if it be round about it cometh by means of foundering if in part then by the anguish caused by the pricking of the canel nail piercing the sole of the foot or by some Quitter-bone Retreat Gravelling or Cloying or such like thing The signes be these When it is loosened by foundering then it will break first in the fore-part of the Cronet right against the toes because the humor doth covet always to descend towards the toe Again when the pricking of a canel nail or such like cankered thing is the cause then the hoof will loosen round about equally even at the first But when it proceedeth of any of the other hurts last mentioned then the hoof will break right above the place that is offended and most commonly will proceed no further The cure according to Martin is thus First of which soever of these causes it proceeds be sure to open the hoof in the sole of the foot so as the humor may have free passage downward and then restrain it above with the Plaister restrictive before mentioned and in such order as is there written and also heal up the wound as is before taught in the Chapter of a prick in the sole of the foot Of casting the Hoof. THis is when the coffin falleth clean away from the foot which cometh by such causes as were last rehearsed and is so apparent to the eye as it needeth no signes to know it The cure according to Martin is thus Take of Turpentine one pound of Tar half a pinte of unwrought Wax half a pinte Boil all these things together and stir them continually until they be throughly mingled and compact together Then make a Boot of Leather with a good strong sole meet for the Horses feet to be laced or buckled about the pastern and dress his foot with the Salve aforesaid laid upon the Flax or Tow and bolster or stuffe his foot with soft Flax so as the Boot may grieve him no manner of way renewing it every day once until it be whole and then put him to grass Of the Hoof-bound THis is a shrinking of all the whole hoof It cometh by drought for the hoofs perhaps are kept too dry when the Horse standeth in the stable and sometime by means of heat or of over-straight shooing The Italians call the Horse thus grieved Incastellado The signes be these The Horse will halt and the hoofs will be hot and if you knock on them with a hammer they will sound hollow like an empty bottle and if both the feet be not hoof-bound the sore foot will be lesser than the other indeed and appear so to the eye The cure according to Martin is thus Pull off the shooes and shooe him
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 ââcis 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 plaâes 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 âot 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 âeed grain into the âkin of this Beast and afterward sow the same without all controversie it will arise with much encrease G ãâ¦ã 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 ãâã 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 Magiâians 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 ãâ¦ã or howling and all the rest answering him with correspondent tune In hair it resembleth a ãâã 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 ând eat their dead bodies Yet is their flesh in Syria Damascus and Berâtus eaten by men It is âalled also Randelos Abenââm Aldabha Dabha Dabah and Dhoboha which are derived from the He ãâ¦ã ew word Deeb or Deeba Dabuh is the Arabian name and the Africans call him Lesâph his feet and ãâ¦ã gs are like to a mans neither is it hurtful to other Beasts being a base and simple creature The ãâ¦ã olour of it is like a Bear and therefore I judge it to be Aâââoââon which is ingendered of a Bear and ãâã Dog and they bark only in the night time They are exceedingly delighted with Musick such ãâã is
came gaping at him to devour him having wrapped his arme in his linnen garment held him fast by the tongue untill he stopped his breath and slew him for which cause he was ever afterwards the more loved and honored of Alexander having at the time of his death the command of all his treasure In like sort I will not be afraid to handle this Lion and to look into him both dead and alive for the expressing of so much of his nature as I can probably gather out of any good writer First of all therefore to begin with his several names almost all the Nations of Europe do follow the Greeks in the nomination of this Beast for they call him Leon the Latines Leo the Italians Leone the French and English Lion the Germans and Illyrians Lew the reason of the Greek name Leon is taken âara to leussein from the excellency of his sight or from Laoo signifying to see and Alaos signifyeth blinde for indeed there is no creature of the quantity of a Lion that hath such an admirable eye-sight The Lionesse called in Greek Leaena which word the Latines follow from whence also they derive Lea for a Lionesse according to this Verse of Lucretius Irritata Leae jaciebant corpora saltu The Hebrews have for this Beast male and female and their young ones divers names and first of all for the male Lion in Deut 33. they have Ari and Atieh where the Caldeans translate it Ariavan the Arabians Asad the Persians Gehad and plurally in Hebrew Araiius Araâot Araâth as in the first of Zeph. Araoth Scbojanim roaring Lions and from hence comes Ariel signifying valiant and strong to be the name of a Prince and Isai 20. Ezek. 43. it is taken for the Alcar of Burnt-offerings because the fire that came down from heayen did continually lie upon that Altar like a Lion in his den or else because the fashion of the temple was like the proportion of the Lion the Assyrians call a Lionesse Arioth the Hebrews also call the male Lion Lâbi and the female Lebia and they distinguish Ari and Labi making Ari to signifie a little Lion and Labi a great one and in Num. 23. in this verse containing one of Gods promises to the people of Israel for victory against their enemies Behold my people shall arise like Labi and be lifted up like Ari there the Caldee translation rendereth Labi Leta the Arabian Jebu the Persians Seher and Munster saith that Labi is an old Lion In Job 38 Lebaim signifieth Lions and in Psal 57. Lebaââ signifieth Lionesses In the Prophet Nahum the 2. Leisch is by the Hebrews translated a Lion and the same word Isa the 30. is by the Caldees translated a Lions whelpe and in the aforesaid place of the Prophet Nihum you shall finde Arieb for a Lion for a Lionesse Cephirim for little Lions ãâã and Gur for a Lions whelp all contained under one period The ãâã call a Lion at this day Sebey And thus much for the name In the next place we are to consider the kinds of Lions and those are according to Aristotle two the first of a lesse and well compacted body which have curled manes being therefore called Acro-Leonies and this is more sluggish and fearful then the other The second kinde of Lion hath a longer body and a deeper loose hanging mane these are more noble generous and couragious against all kinds of wounds And when I speak of manes it must be remembred that all the male Lions are maned but the females are not so neither the Leopards which are begotten by the adultery of the Lionesse for from the Lion there are many Beasts which receive procreation as the Leopard or Panther There is a beast called Leontophonus a little creature in Syria and is bred no where else but where Lions are generated Of whose flesh if the Lion taste he loseth that Princely power which beareth rule among four-footed beasts and presently dyeth for which cause they which lie in waite to kill Lions take the body of this Leontophonus which may well be Englished Lion-queller and burneth it to ashes afterwards casting those ashes upon flesh whereof if the Lion taste she presently dyeth so great is the poison taken out of this beast for the destruction of Lions for which cause the Lion doth not undeservedly hate it and when she findeth it although she dare not touch it with her teeth yet she teareth it in pieces with her claws The urine also of this beast sprinkled upon a Lion doth wonderfully harm him if it doth not destroy him They are deceived that take this Lion-queller to be a kinde of Worm or reptile creature for there is none of them that render urine but this excrement is meerly proper to four-footed living-beasts And thus much I thought good to say of this beast in this place which I have collected out of Aristotle Pliny Solinus and other Authors aforesaid although his proper place be afterward among the Lions enemies The Chimaera is also faigned to be compounded of a Lion a Goat and a Dragon according to this Verse Prima Leo postrema Draco media ipsa Chimaera There be also many Fishes in the great Sea about the Isle Taprobane having the heads of Lions Panthers Rams and other beasts The Tygers of Prasta are also engendred of Lions and are twice so big as they There are also Lions in India called Formicae about the bigness of Egyptian Wolves Camalopardales have their hinder parts like Lions The Mantichora hath the body of a Lion The Leucrocuta the neck tail and breast like a Lion and there is an allogorical thing cald Daemonium Leoninum a Lion Devil which by Bellunensis is interpreted to be an allegory signifying the mingling together reasonable understanding with malicious hurtful actions It is reported also by Aelianus that in the Island of Cheos a Sheep of the flock of Nicippus contrary to the nature of those beasts in stead of a Lamb brought forth a Lion which monstrous prodigy was seen and considered of many whereof divers gave their opinions what it did portend namely that Nicippus of a private man should effect superiority and become a Tyrant which shortly after came to passe for he ruled all by force and violence not with fraud or mercy for Fraus saith Cicero quasi Vulpeculae vis Leonis esse videtur that is Fraud is the property of a Foâ and violence of a Lion It is reported that Meles the first King of Sardis did beget of his Concubine a Lion and the Sooth-sayers told him that on what side soever of the City he should lead that Lion it should remain inexpugnable and never be taken by any man whereupon Meles led him about every tower and rampier of the City which he thought was weakest except only one tower standing towards the River Tmolus because he thought that side was invincible and could never by any force be
Ardentesque faces quas quamvia savids horret For as they are inwardly filled with natural fire for which cause by the Egyptians they were dedicated to Vulcan so are they the more afraid of all outward fire and so suspicious is he of his welfare that if he tread upon the rinde or bark of Oke or the leaves of Osyer he trembleth and standeth amazed And Democritus affirmeth that there is a certain herb growing no where but in Armenia and Cappadocta which being laid to a Lion maketh him to fall presently upon his back and he upward without stirring and gaping with the whole breadth of his mouth the reason whereof Pliny faith is because it cannot be bruised There is no Beast more desirous of copulation then a Lioness and for this cause the males oftentimes fall forth for sometimes eight ten or twelve males follow one Lioness like so many Dogs one salt Bitch for indeed their natural constitution is so not that at all times of the year both sexes desire copulation although Aristotle seemeth to be against it because they bring forth only in the spring The Lioness as we have shewed already committeth adultery by lying with the Libbard for which thing she is punished by her male if she wash not her self before she come at him but when she is ready to be delivered she flyeth to the lodgings of the Libbards and there among them ãâã deth her young ones which for the most part are males for if the male Lion finde them he knoxeth them and destroyeth them as a bastard and adultenous issue and when she goeth to give them suck she saigneth as though she went to hunting By the copulation of a Lioness and an Hyaena is the Ethiopian Crocuta brought forth The Arcadian Dogs called Leontomiges were also generated betwixt Dogs and Lions In all her life long she beareth but once and that but one at a time as Esop seemeth to set down in that fable where he expresseth that contention between the Lioness and the Fox about the generosity of their young ones the Fox objecteth to the Lioness that she bringeth forth but one whelp at a time but he on the contrary begetteth many cubs wherein he taketh great delight unto whom the Lioness maketh this answer Parere se quidem unum sed Leonem that is to say she bringeth sorth indeed but one yet that one is a Lion for one Lion is better then a thousand Foxes and true generosity consisteth not in popularity or multitude but in the gifts of the minde joyned with honorable descent The Lionesses of Syria bear five times in their life at the first time five afterwards but one and lastly they remain barren Herodotus speaking of other Lions saith they never bear but one and that only once whereof he giveth this reason that when the whelp beginneth to stir in his Dams belly the length of his claws pierce through her matrix and so growing greater and greater by often turning leaveth nothing whole so that when the time of littering cometh she casteth forth her whelp and her womb both together after which time she can never bear more but I hold this for a fable because Homer Pliny Oppianus Solinus Philes and Aelianus affirm otherwise contrary and besides experience sheweth the contrary When Apollonius travelled from Babylon by the way they saw a Lioness that was killed by hunters the Beast was of a wonderful bigness such a one as was never seen about her was a great cry of the Hunters and of other neighbours which had flocked thither to see the monster not wondering so much at her quantity as that by opening of her belly they found within her eight whelps whereat Apollonius wondring a little told his companions that they-travelling now into India should be a year and eight moneths in their journey for the one Lion signified by his skill one year and the eight young ones eight moneths The truth is that a Lion beareth never above thrice that is to say six at the first and at the most afterwards two at a time and lastly but one because that one proveth greater and fuller of stomach then the other before him wherefore nature having in that accomplished her perfection giveth over to bring forth any more Within two moneths after the Lioness hath conceived the whelps are perfected in her womb and at six moneths are brought forth blinde weak and some are of opinion without life which so do remain three dayes together untill by the roaring of the male their father and by breathing in their face they be quickned which also he goeth about to establish by reason but they are not worth the relating Isidorus on the other side declareth that for three dayes and three nights after their littering they do nothing but sleep and at last are awaked by the roaring of their father so that it should seem without controversie they are senseless for a certain space after their whelping At two moneths old they begin to run and walk They say also that the fortitude wrath and boldness of Lions is conspicuous by their heat the young one containeth much humidity contrived unto him by the temperament of his kinde which afterwards by the driness and calidity of his complection groweth viscous and slimie like bird-lime and through the help of the animal spirits prevaileth especially about his brain whereby the nerves are so stopped and the spirits excluded that all his power is not able to move him untill his parents partly by breathing into his face and partly by bellowing drive away from his brain that viscous humor these are the words of Physiologus whereby he goeth about to establish his opinion but herein I leave every man to his own judgment in the mean season admiring the wonderful wisdom of God which hath so ordered the several natures of his creatures that whereas the little Partridge can run so soon as it is out of the shell and the duckling the first day swim in the water with his dam yet the harmful Lions Bears Tygres and their whelps are not able to see stand or go for many moneths whereby they are exposed to destruction when they are young which live upon destruction when they are old so that in infancie God clotheth the weaker with more honor There is no creature that loveth her young ones better then the Lioness for both shepherds and hunters frequenting the mountains do oftentimes see how irefully she fighteth in their defence receiving the wounds of many Darts and the stroaks of many stones the one opening her bleeding body and the other pressing the bloud out of the wounds standing invincible never yielding till death yea death it self were nothing unto her so that her young ones might never be taken out of her Den for which cause Homer compareth Ajax to a Lioness fighting in the defence of the carcass of Patroclus It is also reported that the male will
Caesar when he was Dictator presented in spectacle four hundred Lions Quintus Scaevola caused Lions to fight one with another But Marcus Antonius in the civil War after the battail of Pharsalia did first of all cause Lions to be yoked and draw the Chariot of triumphs where he himself sate with one Citheris a Jester which thing was not done without shew and observations of a prodigious and monstrous action and especially in those times wherein it was interpreted that as the noble spirits of those Lions were so much abased and vassalaged in stead of Horses to draw a Chariot they being in nature the King of Beasts so it was feared that the ancient Nobility of Rome the grave Senators and gallant Gentlemen Commanders of the whole Common-wealth should in time to come through civil wars and pride of the people be deprived of all honour and brought down to the basest offices of the whole State Antoninus Pius nourished a hundred Lions Domitian the Emperor called for Acillius Gabrio the Consul into Albania about the time that the games were celebrated for the prosperity of youth and young men which were called Juvenalia to fight with a great Lion and Acillius coming wisely into the combate did easily kill him In ancient time when Lions could not be tamed they did discern them by their teeth and nails and so taking as it were the sting and poyson from the Serpent and the weapons wherein consisteth all their strength they were without all peril sent into the publick Assemblies at the time of their general meetings and great feasts Martial hath an excellent Epigram of the great Lion before exhibited in publick spectacle by Domitian wondering that the Massylian and Ausonian shepheards were so afraid of this Lion and made as great a noise and murmur about his presence as if he had been a heard of Lions and therefore he commendeth the Lybian Countrey for breeding such a beast and withal expresseth the joy of the shepheards for his death as are shown in these verses following Auditur quantum Massyla per avia murmur Iunumero quoties sylva Leone furit Pallidus attonitos ad plena mapalia pastor Cum revocat tauros sine mente pecus Tantus in Ausonia fremuit modo terror arena Quis non esse gregem crederet unus erat Sed cujus tremerent ipsi quoque jura Leenes Cui diadema daret marmore picta Nomas O quantum per colla decus quem sparsit honorem Aurea lunatae cum stetit unda jubae ãâã Grandia quam decuit lotum venabula pectus Quantaque de magna gaudia morte tulit Vnde tuis Lybie tam felix gloria sylvis A Cybeles nunquio venerat ille jugis An magis Hereulo Germanice misit ab astro Hanc tibi vel frater vel pater ipse feram We have shewed already that Lions although never so well tamed become wilde again and that through hunger which breaketh through stone walls according to the common proverb and therefore maketh them to destroy whatsoever cometh in their way according to these verses of Virgil Impastus ceu plena Leo per ovilla turbans Suadet enim vesena fames manditque trahitque Molle pecus mutumque metu fremit ore cruento Such a one was the Lion of Borsius Duke of Ferrara who being in his cave would devour Bulk Bears and Boars but with a Hare or little Whelp he would play and do them no harm at ãâã leaving all his tamable nature he destroyed a young wench who oftentimes came unto him to com ãâ¦ã and stroke his mane and also to bring him meat and flowers upon whom Stroza made these two verses Sustulit ingratus cui quondam plurima debens Pectendasque jubas fera colla dabat The like unto this also was the tame Lion that Marital speaketh of who returning to his first ãâã ture destroyed two young children and therefore he saith justly that his cruelty exceedeth the cruelty of war the Epigram is this Verbera securi solitus Leo ferre magistri Insertamque pati blandus in ora manum Dedidicit pacem subito feritate reversa Quanta nec in Lybicis debuit esse jugis Nam duo de tenera puerilia corpora turba Sanguineam rastris quae renovabat humum Saevus infoelix furiali dente peremit Martia non vidit majus arena nefas Having thus spoken of the taming and taking Lions it also now followeth to entreat of the length of their life and the diseases that are incident unto them with their several cures first therefore it is held that they live very long as threescore or fourscore years for it hath been seen that when a Lion hath been taken alive and in his taking received some wound whereby he became lame or lost some of his teeth yet did he live many years and also it is found that some have been taken without teeth which were all fallen out of their head through age and Aelianus saith that a Lion and a Dolphin do both consume away through multitude of years The sicknesses wherewithal they are annoid are not very many but those which they have are continual for the most part their intrails or inward parts are never sound but subject to corruption as may appear by their spittle and also by their biting and scratching of their nails for a man lightly touched by them at some times is as much poysoned as the biting of a mad Dog also by reason of his extreme hot nature every each other day he suffereth one sickness or other at which time he lyeth prostrate upon the earth roaring not all the day long but at certain hours and in his wrath he is consumed through the heat inclosed in his own body And in his best estate he is afflicted with a quartane Ague even then when he seemeth to be in health and except this disease did restrain his violence and malice by weakning of his body he would be far more hurtful to mankinde then he is and this is to be understood in the Summer time he falleth into this disease sometime at the sight of a man and is cured by the bloud of Dogs according to Albertus and Physiologus when he feeleth himself sick through abundance of meat he falleth a vomiting either by the strength of nature or else helpeth himself by eating a kinde of grass or green corn in the blade or else rapes and if none of these prevail then he fasteth and eateth no more till he finde ease or else if he can meet with an Ape he devoureth and eateth his flesh and this is the principal remedy and medicine which he receiveth against all his diseases both in youth and age and when he groweth old being no more able to hunt Harts Boars and such beasts he exerciseth his whole strength in the hunting and taking of Apes whereupon he liveth totally and for these causes there is a comparison betwixt the Lion and
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 Mâlâwerff 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 summovââ delicias that is
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 Hoâda 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
in the plain ground but are easily killed by a man except they get into the earth with their teeth they bite deep for they can sheer asunder wood with them like Beavers they eat or live upon fruits and especially being tamed when they are young they refuse not bread flesh fish or pottage and above all they desire milk butter and cheese for in the Alpes they will break into the little Cottages where milk is kept and are oftentimes taken in the manner sucking up the milk for they make a noise in sucking of milk like the pig In the moneth of May they are much delighted to eat Hornets or Horse-flies also they feed upon wilde Sagapen of the meddow and seeded Cabages and while they are wilde in the Mountains they never drink the reason is as I suppose because in the Summer time they eat moist green herbs and in all the Winter time they sleep Towards the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel and of Gallus they enter into their Caves and as Pliny saith they first of all carry provision of Hay and green Herbs into their Den to rest upon wherein their wit and understanding is to be admired for like Beavers one of them falleth on the back and the residue load his belly with the carriage and when they have laid upon him sufficient he girteth it fast by taking his tail in his mouth and so the residue draw him to the Cave but I cannot affirm certainly whether this be a truth or a falsehood For there is no reason that leadeth the Author thereunto but that some of them have been found bald on the back But this is certain when the Snow begins to cover the Mountains then do they enter into their Dens and shut up close the passages with sticks grass and earth both so hard and so thick that it is easier to break the solid ground then the mouths of their Caves and so being safely included both from the fear of the Hunters from rain snow and cold there they live until the Spring without all manner of meat and drink gathered round together like a Hedgehog sleeping continually and therefore the people inhabiting the Alpes have a common proverb to express a drowsie and sleepy fellow in the German tongue thus Er musse syuzyt geschlaffen haben wie ein murmelthier in Latine thus Necesse habet certum dormiendo tempus consumere instar mutis Alpini He must needs sleep a little like the Mouse of the Alpes They sleep also when they be tamed but it hath been found by experience that when a tame one hath been taken a sleep and laid in a warm barrel upon Hay the mouth being shut and closed to keep out rain and snow at the opening thereof it was found dead and the reason was because it lacked breath and therefore this is most wonderful that in the Mountains notwithstanding the close stopping of the mouth of their Caves yet they should not be deprived of refrigeration that is fresh air for expiration and respiration But this is to be considered that after they have been long tamed they sleep not so much as when they are wilde for I think that their continual eating of raw and green herbs ingendereth in them so many humors as cannot be dispersed without a long continuing sleep but afterwards when they are dieted with such meat as is provided for the nourishment of man they are eased of the cause and so the effect ceaseth During the time that they sleep they grow very fat and they are not awaked very easily except with the heat of the Sumor fire or a Hot-house Now the manner of their taking while they are wilde is thus In the Summer time when they go in and out of their Caves they are taken with snares set at the mouth thereof but in the Winter time when they go not abroad then also are Inhabitants forced to another devise for then in the Summer time they set up certain pillars or perches near the mouth of their Den whereby they may be directed when the snow doth cover the Mountains For the pillars or poles stand up above the snow although the snow be very deep Then come the Inhabitants upon round pieces of wood in the midst of the Winter fastned to their shooe-soles over the deep snow with their pyoners and diggers and cast away the snow from the den and so dig up the earth and not only take the beasts but carry them away sleeping and while they dig they diligently observe the frame and manner of the stopping of the Mouses den For if it be long and deep if is a sign of a long and a hard Winter but if they be shallow and thin of the contrary so coming upon them as we have said they take them and carry them away asleep finding always an odd number among them and they diligently observe that whilest they dig there be no great noise or that they bring not their fire too near them For as Stumpsius saith Experrecti enim capi non possunt nam utcunque strenue fodiat venator ipsi fodiendo simul retrocedunt pedibus quam effoderint terram rejiciendo fossorem impediunt That is to say If they be once awaked they can never be taken for howsoever the Hunter dig never so manfully yet they together with him dig inward into the Mountains and cast the earth backward with their feet to hinder his work Being taken as we have said they grow very tame and especially in the presence of their keepers before whom they will play and sport and take lice out of their heads with their fore-feet like an Ape Insomuch as there is no beast that was ever wilde in this part of the world that becometh so tame and familiar to man as they yet do they always live in the hatred of Dogs and oftentimes bite them deeply having them at any advantage especially in the presence of men where the Dogs dare not resist nor defend themselves When they are wilde they are also killed asleep by putting of a knife into their throat whereat their fore-feet stir a little but they die before they can be awaked Their bloud is saved in a vessel and afterwards the Mouse it self is dressed in hot scalding water like a Pig and the hair thereof plucked off and then do they appear bald and white next to that they bowel them and take out their intrails afterwards put in the bloud again into their bellies and so seethe them or else salt them and hang them up in smoke and being dressed after they are dryed they are commonly eaten in the Alpine Regions with Rapes and Cabbages and their flesh is very fat not a fluxible or loose fat like the fat of Lambs but a solid fat like the fat of Hogs and Oxen. And the flesh hereof is commended to be profitable for Women with childe and also for all windiness and gripings in the belly not only
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 ãâ¦ã 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
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 ãâã 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 Tranâylvania 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
drawing him with one of her feet unto the cave whereinto her young ones were fallen out of which he delivered them to the mother as ransome for his own life and then both she and the young ones did follow him rejoycing out of the danger of all Beasts and out of the Wilderness dismissing him without all manner of harm which is a rare thing in a man to be so thankful and much more in a Beast and unto this story of their love and kindeness to their young ones I may add another worthy to be remembred out of Aelianus There was saith he a man which brought up a tame Panther from a whelp and had made it so gentle that it refused no society of men and he himself loved it as if it had been his wife There was also a little Kid in the House brought up tame of purpose to be given unto the Panther when it was grown to some stature or quantity yet in the mean season the Panther played with it every day at last it being ripe the Master killed it and said it before the Panther to be eaten but he would not touch it whereupon he fasted till the next day and then it was brought unto him again but he refused it as before at last he fasted the third day and making great moan for meat according to his usual manner had the Kid laid before him the third time the poor Beast seeing that nothing would serve the turn but that he must either eat up his chamber-fellow or else his Master would make him continually fast he ran and killed another Kid disdaining to meddle with that which was his former acquaintance yea though it were dead herein excelling many wicked man who do not spare those that have lived with them in the greatest familiarity and friendship to undo and overthrow them alive for the advancement of themselves We have said already that they most of all resemble Women and indeed they are enemies to all creatures The Leopards of Barbary do little harm to men that they meet except they meet them in some path way where the man cannot decline the Beast nor the Beast the Man there they leap most fiercely into his face and pull away as much flesh as they can lay hold upon and many of them with their nails do pierce the brains of a man They use not to invade or force upon flocks of Sheep or Goats yet wheresoever they see a Dog they instantly kill and devour him The great Panther is a terror to the Dragon and so soon as the Dragon seeth it he flyeth to his cave The lesser Panthers or Leopards do overcome Wolves being single and hand to hand as we say but by multitude they over-master and destroy him for if he endevour to run away yet they are swifter and easily overcome it There is also great hatred and enmity betwixt the Hyaena and the Panther for in the presence of the Hyaena the Pardal dareth not resist and that which is more admirable if there be a piece of an Hyaenas skin about either man or beast the Panther will never touch it and if their skins after they be dead be hung up in the presence of one another the hair will fall off from the Panther and therefore when the Egyptians would signifie how a Superiour was overcome by a Inferiour they picture those two skins If any thing be anointed with broath wherein a Cock hath been sodden neither Panthers nor Lions will ever touch it especially if there be mixed with it the juyce of Garlick Leopards are afraid of a certain tree called Leopardi-arbor Leopards-tree Panthers are also afraid of the skull of a dead man and run from the sight thereof yet it is reported that two year before the death of Francis King of France two Leopards a male and a female were âet escape in France into the Woods either by the negligence or the malice of their Keepers that is a male and a female and about Orleance tore in pieces many men and women at last they came and killed a Bride which was that day to have been marryed and afterward there were found many carkases of Women destroyed by them of which they had eaten nothing but only their breasts Such like things I might express many in this place whereby the vengeance of Almighty God against man-kinde for many sins might seem to be executed by the raging ministery of wilde savage and ungentle Beasts For this cause we read in ancient time how the Senators of Rome gave laws of punishment against them that should bring any Panthers into Italy especially any African Beasts and the first that gave dispensation against those laws was Cneius Ausââius the peoples Tribune who permitted them for the sake of the Cirâânsâan games and then Sta ãâ¦ã in the office of his aedility brought also in an hundred and fifty After him Poââpey the great four hundred and ten and lastly Augustus that ever remembred and renowned Emperor four hundred and twenty Thus laws which were first made by great men and good Senators for the safety of the common-wealth became of no great value because as great or greater then the Law-makers had a purpose to advance themselves by the practise of those things which law had justly forbidden for if those decrees had stood effectual as the victorious Champions had lost that part of their vain triumphs so many people had afterward been preserved alive who by the cruelty of these Beasts were either torn in pieces or else received mortal wounds It was not in vain that the blessed Martyr of Jesus Christ Ignatius who was afterwards torn in pieces by wilde Beasts at Rome did write thus in his Epistle to the Roman Christians concerning his handling by the Roman Souldiers as he was brought prisoner out of Syria to Rome A Syria Romam asque cum bestiis depugnoper terram mare die nocteque vinctus cum decem Leopardis hoc est cum militari cusâodia qui ex beneficiis deteriores fiunt From Syria saith he to Rome I have fought with Beasts being night and day held in bondage by ten Leopards I mean ten Souldiers who notwithstanding many benefits I bestowed upon them yet do they use me worse and worse and thus much for the cruelty of Panthers and Leopards We have shewed already how they become tame and are used in hunting unto which discourse somewhat out of the place I will adde a true narration of two Panthers or Leopards nourished in France for the King whereof one was of the bigness of a great Calf and the other of a great Dog and that on a day the lesser was brought forth for the King to behold how tame and tractable he was and that he would ride behinde his Keeper upon a cloth or pillow being tyed in a chain and if a Hare had been let loose in his presence and he turned down to her within a
think it eateth Apples Roots and rindes of trees and peradventures Snail and such reptile creatures but being tamed it eateth all kinde of fruit likewise bread Pâe-crust and such things broken small It drinketh also water but above all other Wine mingled with water In the day time it sleepeth and in the night time it waketh by which we gather that being wilde it feareth the light and therefore travelleth in the night time for his meat and living It is a general live creature and begetteth other in his own kind the female bearing the young ones in her belly as long time as a Bear that is thirty days and also it hideth it self four moneths in the Winter time like a Bear but whether for cold or any other cause the Authors do not express In my opinion for cold rather then for any other reason although there be some that affirm it lyeth hid in the Summer time and cometh abroad in the Winter time contrary to the course of all other Beasts and therefore such a Paradox doth want the testimony of some credible Writers which should affirm it upon their own experience or else it were requisite to bring sufficient reasons to lead their Readers to believe it but neither of both is discharged by them and th ãâ¦ã it is safer for us to follow Aristotle and Pliny who hold the first opinion then Albertus and A ãâ¦ã ola who encline to the later In all other things both of their lying hid of their procreation o ãâ¦ã he comming out of their cave and nourishing their young ones they imitate the manners and conditions of Bears Concerning the use of their parts I finde none but only of their quils for with them it is said if men scrape their teeth they will never be loose likewise women were wont in ancient time to use them for parting asunder their hair in the top of their crowns The flesh of this Beast is like a Hedge-hogs neither very natural for meat and nourishment nor yet very medicinable yet it is said to help a weak and over-burthened stomach to procure looseness of the belly and to diminish all Leprosies and scabbed Exulcerations and pustules Being salted it is is good against the Dropsie and also very profitable as Platina writeth to be eaten by them that cannot contain urine in their beds yet the Gracians attribute no such quality unto this but to help the stomach and loosen the belly they attribute to the Sea-hog and against the leprosie scabs and incontinency of urine to the Hedge-hog but peradventure the saying of Pliny Quae de Herinace is dicuntur o ãâ¦ã tanto magis valebunt in Histrice leadeth them to attribute these things to the Porcuspine The powder of their quils burnt drunk or eaten in meats or broth doth promote and help conception Thus saith Avicen and herewithall I conclude this short discourse of the Hedg-hog Of the Reyner or Rainger THis Beast is called by the Latines Rangifer by the Germans Rein Reiner Raineger Reinsither by the French Raingier and Ranglier and the later Latines call it Rei ãâ¦ã It is a Beast altogether unknown to the ancient Graecians and Latines except the Machlis that Pliny speaketh of be it But we have shewed already in the story of the Elk that Alces and Mhlis are all one This Beast was first of all discovered by Olam Magnus in this Northern part of the world towards the pole Artique as in Norway Swetia Scandinavia at the first sight whereof he called it Raingifer quasi Ramifer because he beareth horns on his head like the boughs of a tree The similitude of this Beast is much like to a Hart but it is much bigger stronger and swifter It beareth three orders or rows of horns on the head as by the direction of Valentinus Grâvius and Benedictus Martinus are here expressed This Beast changeth his colour according to the time of the year and also according to the quality of the place wherein he feedeth which appeareth by this because some of them are found to be of the colour of Asses and shortly after to be like Harts Their breast is full of long bristles being rough and rigid through the same The legs hairy and the hoofs hollow cloven and moveable which in his course he spreadeth abroad upon the deepest snows without pressing his foot-steps far into them and by his admirable celerity he avoideth all the wilde Beasts which in the Vallies lie in wait to destroy him He beareth very high and lofty horns which presently from the root branch forth into two stems or pikes I mean both the horns severally into two which again at the top disperse themselves into pikes like the fingers of ones hand In the middle of the horse there is a little branch standeth out like a knob or as a huckle in the hinder-part of a Beasts leg from thence again they ascend upwards a great heighth and do grow abroad at the top where they are divided like the palm of a hand The horns are white distinguished with long apparent veins differing both from the horns of Elks and the horns of Harts from Elks in height and from Harts in breadth and from them both in colour and multitude of branches When he runneth he layeth them on his back for when he stands still the lowest branches coming forth of the roots of the horns do almost cover his face with these lower branches Their Carts which they draw must be made with a sharp edge at the bottom like a boat or ship as we have said already for they are not drawn upon wheels but like drays and sleads upon the earth There was a Lapponian which brought one of these into Germany in December he professeth he never felt so much heat of the Sun in all his life as he did at that time which is our coldest time in the year and therefore how great is the cold which both men and Beasts endure in that Countrey The horns of these Beasts are to be seen both in Berne and at Auspurge in Germany the feet are some-what white being rounder then a Harts feet and more cloven or divided wherefore at some times one part of his hoof may be seen upon a stone while the other part resteth upon the earth and in the upper part of the hoof where it beginneth to be cloven near the leg there is a certain thick skin or membrane by vertue whereof the foot may be stretched in the division without harm or pain to the Beast The King of Swetia had ten of them nourished at Lappa which he caused every day to be driven unto the Mountains into the cold air for they were not able to endure the heat The mouth of this Beast is like the mouth of a Cow they many times come out of Laponia into Swetia where they are wonderfully annoyed with Wolves but they gather themselves together in a ring and so fight against their enemies with their horns They are
of their nature and peaceable quiet wherein they live doth breed in them the better wool and besides they never drink but quench their thirst with the dew of heaven And thus much for the discourse of English wool I am never able sufficiently to describe the infinite commodities that come unto men by wool both for gardens for hangings for coverings for hats and divers such other things and therefore it shall not be unpleasant I trust unto the Reader to be troubled a little with a farther discourse hereof if I blot some paper in describing the quality of the best wool in other Nations First of all therefore we are to remember these two things that the best wool is soft and curled and that the wool of the old Sheep is thicker and thinner then the wool of the younger and the wool of the Ram followeth the same nature of whom we will speak more in his story Only in this place our purpose is to expresse the examination of wool as we finde it related by Authors according to their several Countries Therefore as we have said already out of Mr. Camdens report the Tarentinian and Apulian must have the first place because the Sheep of those Countries live for the most part within doors and besides that are covered with other skins In Spain they make greatest account of the black wool and it appeareth by good History both in our English Chronicle and others that the Sheep of Spain were of no reckoning till they were stored with the breed of England There is a little Countrey called Pollentia neer the Alpes of the wool where of Martial maketh mention as also of the Canusine red wool and therefore Ovis Canusina was an Emblem for pretious wool his Verses are these Non tantum pullo lugentes vellere lanas Roma magis fuscis vestitur Gallia ruffis Canusinatus nostro Syrus assere sudet We have spoken already of the wool of Istria and Liburnia which if it were not for the spinning in Portugal and the Websters art thereupon it were no better for cloth then hair Strabo writeth that the wool of Mutina whereby he meaneth all the Countrey that lyeth upon the Scutana is very soft and gentle and the best of Italy but that of Liguria and Millain is good for no other use but for the garments of servants About Padua their wool is of a mean price yet they make of it most pretious works of Tapestry and Carpets for tables for that which was rough and thick in antient time was used for this purpose and also to make garments having the shags thereof hanging by it like rugs There is a City called Felirum and the wool thereof by the Merchants is called Feltriolana Felt-wool they were wont to make garments hereof neither woven nor sewed but baked together at the fire like hats and caps whereof Pliny writeth thus Lanae per se coacta vestem faciunt si addatur aâetum etiam ferro resistunt imo vero etiam ignibus novissimo sââ purgamemo quippe aâenis coquentium extracte indumentis usâ veniant Gallorum ut arbitror invento certe Gallicis hodie nominibus discernuntur Wool hath this property that if it be forced together it will make a garment of it self and if Vinegar be put unto it it will bear off the blow of a sword dressed at the fire and purged to the last for it being taken off from the brazen coffer whereon it was dressed it served for clothing being as he thought an invention of the Gals because it was known by French names and from hence we must see the beginning of our felt-hats The Betican wool is celebrated by Juvenal when he speaketh how Catullus fearing shipwrack was about to cast him out into the water Infecit natura pecus sed egregius fons Viribus occultis B ãâ¦ã adj ãâ¦ã ãâã For the colour of Wool in that Countrey groweth mixed not by any art but naturally through their food or their drink or the operation of the air The Lavoditian Wool is also celebrated not only for the softnesse of it but for the colour for that it is as black as any Raven and yet there are some there of other colours and for this cause the Spanish Wool is commended especially Turditania and Coraxâ as Strabo writeth for he saith the glosse of the Wool was not only beautiful for the purity of the black but also it will spin out into so thin a thread as was admirable and therefore in his time they sold a Ram of that Countrey for a talent I may speak also of the Wool of Paâma and Altinum whereof Martial made this distichon Velleribus primis Appulia Parma secundis Nobilis Altinum âertid laudat ovis We may also read how for the ornament of wool there have been divers colours invented by art and the colours have given names to the Wool as Simatulis lana wool of Sea-water-colour some colour taken from an Amathyst stone some from brightness or clearness some from Saffron some from Roses from Mittles from Nuts from Almonds from Wax from the Crow as Color coraxicus and from the purple fish as from the Colassine or the Tyrian whereof Virgil writeth thus Hae quoque non cura nobis levibre âuendae Nec minor usus erit quamvis Milesia magno Vellera mutentur Tyrios incocta rubores From hence cometh the chalke colour the Lettice colour the Loot-tree root the red colour the Azure colour and the Star colour There is an herb called Fullers-herb which doth soften Wool and make it apt to take colour and whereas generally there are but two colours black and white that are simple the antients not knowing how to die Wool did paint it on the outside for the triumphing garments in Homer were painted garments The Phrygian garments were colours wrought with needle-work and there was one Attalus a King in Asia which did first of all invent the weaving of Wool and Gold together whereupon came the name of Vestis Attalica for a garment of cloth of gold The Babylonians and the Alexandrians loved diversity of colours in their garments also and therefore M ãâ¦ã Scipio made a law of death against all such as should buy a Babylonish garment that was carpets or beds to eat upon for eight hundred Sesterces The shearing of cloth or garments made of shorne cloth did first of all begin in the dayes of St. Augustine as Fenistella writeth The garments like poppies had the original before the time of Lucilius the Poet as he maketh mention in Tarquatus There was a fashion in antient time among the Romans that a distaffe with Wool upon it was carryed after Virgins when they were going to be marryed the reason thereof was this as Varro writeth for that there was one Tanaquillis or Caia Cecilia whose Distaffe and Wool had endured in the Temple of Sangi many hundered years and that Servius Tullus made him a cloke of that Wool which he
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 Mratiâs 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 thââ 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 ãâ¦ã n a great rich man in Africa giving to Bacchus great store of wealth and cattel to
so strange proportion But this unkinde and ravening Beast despising their amity society and fellowship maketh but a bait of his golden outside and colour to draw unto him his convenient prey and beguile the innocent fishes for he snatcheth at the nearest and devoureth them tarrying no longer in the water then his belly is filled and yet these simple foolish fishes seeing their fellows devoured before their faces have not the power or wit to avoid this devourers society but still accompany him and weary him out of the waters till he can eat no more never hating him or leaving him but as men which delight to be hanged in silken halters or stabbed with silver and golden bodkins so do the fishes by this golden-coloured-devouring-monster But such impious cruelty is not left unrevenged in nature for as she gathereth the fishes together to destroy them so the Fishermen watching that concourse do entrap both it and them rendering the same measure to the ravener that it had done to his innocent companions And thus much shall suffice for the Subus or Water-sheep Of the SWINE in general The Grecians do also use Sus or Zus Choiros and Suagros The wilde Hog is called Kapron from hence I conjecture is derived the Latine word Apex the Italians do vulgarly call it Porco and the Florentines peculiarly Ciacco and also the Italians call a Sow with Pig Scrofa and Troiata or Porco fattrice The reason why that they call a Sow that is great with Pig Trojata or Trojaria is for the similitude with the Trojan Horse because as that in the belly thereof did include many armed men so doth a Sow in her belly many young Pigs which afterward come to the table and dishes of men A Barrow hog is called Mâjalis in Latine and the Italians Porco castrato and Lo Majale The French call a Swine Porceau a Sow Trâye Coche a Bore Verrat a Pig Cochon Porcelet and about Lyons Ca ãâ¦ã The barrow Hog they call Por-chastre The Spaniards call Swine Puerco the Germans Saw or Suw Su chwin Schwâin a Sow they call Mâr and Looss a Bore Aeber which seemeth to be derived from Aper a Barrow Hog Barg a splayed Sow Gultz a Pig Faerle and Scuwle and a sucking Pig Sâanfoerle In little Brittain they call a Hog Houch and thereof they call a Dolphin Merhouch The Illyrians call Swine Swinye and Prase the Latines Sus Porcus and Porcelius and Scrofa and these are the common and most vulgar tearms of Swines If there be any other they are either devised or new made or else derived from some of these Concerning the Latine word Sus Isidorus deriveth it from Sub because these Beasts tread under-foot grass and grain and indeed for this cause the Egyptians kept their Swine in the hills all the year long till their seed time for when their corn was sowen they drove them over their new plowed lands to tread in the grain that the Fowls and Birds might not root it or scrape it forth again and for this cause also they spared Swine from Sacrificing But in mine opinion it is better derived from Hus the Greek word For the Latine Porcus is thought to be f ãâ¦ã from Porrectus because his snowt is alway stretched forth and so he feedeth digging with it in the earth and turning up the root of trees but I better approve the notation of Isidorus Porâus quasi spurcus quia âoeno limo sevolutat That is because it rowleth and walloweth in the mire Porcâtra or Porceta for a Sow that hath had but one farrow and Sc ãâ¦ã ppa for a Sow that hath had many The Grecians Hus is derived from Thuein which signifieth to kill in sacrifice for great was the use of sacrificing this beast among the Paynims as we shall shew afterward The ancient Grecians did also tearm Swine Sika and when the Swine-herds did call the Beasts to their meats they cryed Sig Sig as in our Countrey their feeders cry Tig Tig Ch ãâ¦ã ros of their feeding and nursing their young ones And indeed from Swine we finde that many men have also received names as cipio Suarius and Tremellius Scrosa whereupon lyeth this history as he writeth when Licinus Nerva was ãâ¦ã tor his great Uncle was left Questor in his absence for Macedonia untill the Praetor returned The enemies thinking that now they had gotten opportunity and advantage against their besiegers or assaylants caused an onset to be made and a fight to be offered then his Uncle exhorting the Roman Souldiers to arms told them Seceleriter hostes diljecturum ut Scrofa porcellas That he would as easily cast them off and scatter them as a Sow doth her Pigs sucking her belly which he performed accordingly and so obtained a great victory for which Nerva was made Emperor and he was always evermore afterward called Scrofa Macrobius telleth the occasion of the name of the family of Scrofa somewhat otherwise yet pertaining to this discourse Tremellius saith he was with his family and children dwelling in a certain Village and his servants seeing a stray Sow come among them the owner whereof they did not know presently they slew her and brought her home The neighbour that did owe the Sow called for witnesses of the fact or theft and came with them to Tremellius demanding his Scrofa or Sow again Tremellius having understood by one of his servants the deed laid it up in his Wives bed and covering it over with the clothes caused her to lie upon the Sows carkase and therefore told his neighbour he should come in and take the Scrofa and so had brought him where his wife lay and swore he had no other Sow of his but that shewing him the bed and so the poor man was deceived by a dissembling oath for which cause he saith the name of Scrofa was given to that family There was one Pope Sergius whose christen and first name was Os porci Hogs face and therefore he being elected Pope changed his name into Sergius which custom of alteration of names as that was the beginning so it hath continued ever since that time among all his successors Likewise we read of Porcellus a Grammarian of Porcellius a Poet of Naples who made a Chronicle of the affairs of Frederick Duke of Vrbine Porcius Suillus Verres the Praetor of Sicilia Syadra Sybotas Hyas Hyagnis Gryllus Porcilla and many such other give sufficient testimony of the original of their names to be drawn from Swine and not only men but people and places as Hyatae Suales Chorreatae three names of the Dori in Greece Hyia a City of Locris Hyamena a City of Mesene Hyamajon a City of Troy Hyampolis a City of Phocis whereby to all posterity it appeareth that they were Swineherds at the beginning Exul Hyantaenos invenit regna per agros Hyape Hyops a City in Iberia Hysia a City of Boeotia and Pliny calleth the tall people of Ethiop which were eight cubits
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
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 roâting 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
heat of his body that he cannot long stand and although he shall lodge himself in some Marish or Woods where the Hunters can have no use of their nets yet must they not be afraid to approach unto him and with such hunting instruments as they have shew the magnitude and courage of their minde by attaining their game by the strength of hand when they are deprived from the help of Art And to conclude the same devises diligence labour prosecution and observations are to be used in the hunting of the Boar which are prescribed for the hunting of the Hart. It seldome falleth out that the Pigs of wilde Swine are taken for they run and hide themselves among the leaves and in the Woods seldome parting from their parents untill their death and as we have said already the dams fight for their young ones most irâfully For it is not with these as with the vulgar Swine that they beat away their young ones from following them but because they conceive but seldome they suffer their Pigs to accompany them a whole year And thus much for the violent and forcible hunting of Boars Now followeth the artificiall devises and policies which have been invented for the same purpose whereby to take them without pursuit of Dogs And first of all the same engins which we have prescribed for taking of the Hart are also in use for taking of the Boar and Petrus Crescentiensis sheweth how a multitude of Boars may be taken together in one ditch and first of all he saith neer to the place where Boars make their abode they sow in some plain fields a kinde of fatting corn which Hogs love and about that field they make a high and strong hedge of the boughâ of trees in the one part whereof they leave a great gap yet not altogether down to the ground At the time of the year when the grain waxeth ripe the Boars gather thereinto in great number now right over against the said gap on the other side there is another little low place of the hedge left over which the Swine may easily leap When the watch-man hunter seeth the field full he cometh alone and unarmed to the first gap and therein he standeth lewring and making a terrible noise to affright the Swine now on the other side where the hedge is left low there is also made a vast and deep ditch the Hogs being terrified with the presence and noise of the Hunter and seeing him stand in the place of their entrance run to and fro to seek another escape and finding none but that low place of the hedge before the ditch over they presse headlong as fast as they can and so fall into the trench one upon another Again neer Rome there be divers that watch in the woods and in the night time when the Moon shineth set up certain Iron instruments through which there glistereth fire unto which the Boars and wilde Swine will approach or at the leastwise stand still and gaze upon them and in the mean season the Hunters which stand in secret come and kill them with their darts and to conclude in Armenia there are certain black venemous fishes which the inhabitants take and mixe with meal and cast them abroad where Boars and wilde Swine did haunt by eating whereof as also Hemlock and Henbane they are quickly poisoned and die And thus much we have shewed out of Xenophon and other Authors the severall wayes of hunting and taking of wilde Swine Now forasmuch as the hunting thereof hath been often shewed to be dangerous both to men and Dogs I will a little adde some histories concerning the death of them which have been killed by Boars For if that cometh not to passe which Martiall writeth Thuscâ glaâdis Aper populator ilice multa Impiger Aetolâ fâma secunda forae Quem mens intravit splendenti cuspide cultor Praeda jâces nostris invidiosâ fociâ I say if the Boar be not killed by men the Hunter is constrained many times to say with Lydia in the same Poet Fuhnineo spumantiââpri sum dente peremptâ Apuleius reporteth of one Leopolemus that he loved the wife of Thrasillus now to the intent that he might possesse her he took her husband abroad with him to the hunting of a Boar that under colour thereof he might kill him and say the Boar slew him Being abroad the nets raised and the Dogs loosed there appeared unto them a Boar of a monstrous shape wonderfull fat with horrible hair a skin set with standing bristles rough upon the back and his mouth continually foaming out abundance of froath and the sound of his gnashing teeth ringing like the ratling of armor having fire-burning eyes a despiteâul look a violent force and every way fervent he slew the noblest Dogs which first set upon him not staying till they came to him but he sought out for them breaking their cheeks and legs asunder even as a Dog will do some small bones then he trod down the nets in disdain passing by them that offered him the first encounter and yet remembring his own vigor and strength turning back again upon them first overthrowing them and grinding them betwixt his teeth like Apples at length he meets with Thrasillus and first teareth his cloth from his back and then likewise tore his body in pieces and this man I remember in the first place to be killed by this monster-Boar whether he was a beast or a man Martiall in his book of spectacles remembreth a story of Diana who killing of a wilde Sow with Pig the young ones leaped out of her belly and this I thought good to remember here although it be somewhat out of place Inter Caesarea discrimina saeva Dianae Fixisset gravidam cum levis hasta suem Exiliit partus miserae de vulnere matris O Lucina feroâc hoc peperisse fuit Anceus the father of Agapenor was killed by the Calidonian Boar as we have said already Ca ãâ¦ã was slain by a Boar in the mountain Tmolus There was one Attas a Syrian and another an Arcadian and both these were slain by Boars as Plutarch writeth in the life of Sertârius It is reported of one Attes a Phrygian that as he kept his Sheep he did continually âing songs in commendation of the mother of the Gods for which cause she loved him honoured him and often appeared unto him whereupon Jupiter fell to be offended and therefore sent a Boar to kill Attes Rea after his death lamented him and caused him to be buryed honourably The Phrygians in his remembrance did every year in the spring time lament and bewail him Adonis also the Leman of Venus is faigned of the Poets to be killed by a Boar and yet Macrobius saith that it is an allegory of the Sun and the Winter for Adonis signifieth the Sun and the Boar the Winter for as the Boar is a rough and sharp beast living in moyst cold and places covered with frost and doth
all round and smooth but touching it with ones tongue it cleaveth fast unto it the tooth was as big as a man could gripe in his hand being in the upper or outward part bony or hollow within white in the middle and toward the end somewhat reddish But there was found all the Beast as by the greatness of his bones might easily be perceived being bigger in quantity then a Horse It is most certain that it was a four-footed Beast by the bones of the shoulders thighs and ribs But if this horn were the tooth of an Elephant as some do suppose you would marvail why two which I have heard were never found together But the teeth or rather horns of Elephants are neither so crooked that they might come almost to half a circle as they did The strength of this horn a penny weight thereof being put in Wine or water of Borage healeth old Fevers as also tertian or quartern Agues of three years continuance and cureth many diseases in mens bodies as asswaging the pain of the belly and making of those to vomit who can by no means ease their stomachs Hither to shall suffice to have spoken concerning one of those four horns which I saw The other was like unto this but less pure for the colour was outwardly most black inwardly most white being found in the River The third and fourth most hard so that a man would think it were by the touching thereof stone or iron being solid even unto the point for I have not seen them wholly but the part of one to the length of a cubit of the other to the length of half a cubit with a dark colour being almost of the same thickness as the two former But forasmuch as the two former have no rifts or chinks in them these have by their longitude being like herbs bending or wreathing in their stalks There was another found in a certain field so much appearing out of the earth that the rude or Countrey sort did think it to be some pile or stake Many also are cured and freed from shaking Feavers by the medicinal force of these the cause whereof I suppose to be this because the former are softer for as much as one of them willâly in the water for so long a time but the other under the earth being scarâe well hid I afterwards saw a fifth like unto the first none of them being straight or direct up but also crooked some almost unto a half circle Hitherto Schnebergerus who also addeth this That there are more of these to be found in Polonia and therefore for the most part to be contemned There are moreover found in Helvetia some of these horns one in the River Aâula against the Town of Bruga the other in the last year in the River of Birsa but it was broken even as the third with that famous Earl of the Cymbrians William Warner in a Tower near unto the City R ãâ¦ã who gave unto Gesner a good piece thereof who found another piece as he was a âishing at Birsa in the River And it is no great marvail that they are found there where through length of time they are broken into small pieces and carryed by the force of the waters into divers places But it is most diligently to be observed whether they are found in the earth as also to be known whether that great horn be of this beast which hangs alone in the great Temple at Argenâaur by the pillar for it hath hanged there many years before as now it appeareth for that doth plainly seem the same magnitude thickness and figure which Schnebergerus hath described in his own horn that we have allowed before for wilde Oxen. The Ancients have attributed singular horns to the Unicorn whom some have cald by other names as it is said and furthermore to the Oryx a wilde Beast unknown in our age except I be deceived which Aristotle and Pliny call a Unicorn Aelianus a Quadrucorn Oppianus doth not express it but he seemeth to make it a two horned Beast Simeon Sethi doth also write that the Musk-cat or Goat which bringeth forth Musk hath one horn Certain later writers as Scaliger reporteth say that there is a certain Ox in Ethiopia which hath one horn coming out in the midst of his fore-head greater then the length of a foot bending upwards the point being wreathed overthwart and they have red hair whereby we gather that the horn of all Unicorns is not pure But the reason why these horns are more found in Polonia then in any other place I cannot well guess whether from thence we shall suspect them to be of certain Vries which at this day abide in the Woods of Sarmatia in times past there were many more which have lived both in greater and larger Woods neither were they killed with so often hunting some whereof it is most like have come to great age as appeareth by their great and stately horns which things we leave to be considered of others I suppose that the Apothecaries never have the true horn of a Unicorn but that some do sell a kinde of false adulterated Horn other the fragments of this great and unknown horn of which we have spoken and not only of the horn but also of the bones of the head some of which are so affected by longinquity of time that you may take a three-fold substance in them although it be broken by a certain distance one being for the most part whitish and pale the other whiter and softer the third stony and most white I hear that in the new Islands there was a horn bought in the name of a Unicorns horn being much praised for expelling of poyson which what it is I have not as yet examined but it is to be inquired whether it be Rhinocerots or not for both the ancient and late Writers do mingle this with the Unicorn I do verily conjecture that the same strength is pertinent to both the Horns And thus much shall suffice concerning the true Unicorns horn and the Vertues arising therefrom In this place now we will proceed to the residue of the history reserving other uses of this horn to the proper medicines These beasts are very swift and their legs have no Articles They keep for the most part in the Deserts and live solitary in the tops of the Mountains There was nothing more horrible then the voice or braying of it for the voyce is strained above measure It fighteth both with the mouth and with the heels with the mouth biting like a Lion and with the heels kicking like a Horse It is beast of an untamable nature and therefore the Lord himself in Job saith that he cannot be tyed with any halter nor yet accustomed to any cratch or stable He feareth not Iron nor any Iron instrument as Isidorus writeth and that which is most strange of all other it fighteth with his own kinde yea even with the females unto death except when it
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
alive they put them into some tub or great mortar and there kill them by bruising them to pieces afterwards they make a fire of coals in the Mountains where the VVolfs haunt putting into the same some of these fishes mixed with bloud and pieces of Mutton and so leaving it to have the savour thereof carryed every way with the winde they go and hide themselves whilest that in the mean time the VVolfs enraged with the savour of this fire seek to and fro to finde it because of the smell the fire before they come is quenched or goeth out naturally and the VVolfs by the smoak thereof especially by tasting of the flesh bloud and fish which there they finde do fall into a drowsie dead sleep which when the Hunters do perceive they come upon them and cut their throats The Armenians do poyson them with black fishes and some do take a cat pulling off her skin taking out the bowels they put into her belly the powder of Frogs this Cat is boyled a little upon coals and by a man drawn up and down in the Mountains where VVolfs do haunt now if the VVolfs do chance to meet with the train of this Cat they instantly follow after him inraged without all fear of man to attain it therefore he which draweth the Cat is accompanyed with another Hunter armed with a Gun Pistol or Cross-bow that at the appearance of the VVolf and before his approach to the train he may destroy and kill him I will not discourse of VVolf bane commonly called Aconitum in Latine wherewithall both men and beasts are intoxicated and especially VVolfs but referring the Reader to the long discourse of Conradus Gesner in his History of the VVolf I will only remember in this place an Epigram of Ausonius wherein he pleasantly relateth a story of an adulterated woman desiring to make away her jealous husband and that with speed and vehemency gave him a drink of VVolf-bane and Quick-silver mingled together either of both single are poyson but compounded are a purgation the Epigram is this that followeth Toxica zelotypo dedit uxor moecha marito Nec satis ad mortem credidit esse datum Miscuit argenti letalia pondera vivi Cogeret ut celerem vis geminata necem Dividat haec si quis faciunt discreta venenum Antidotum sumet qui sociata bibet Ergo inter sese dum noxia pocula certant Cessit letalis noxa salutiferae Protinus vacuos alvi petiere recessus Lubrica dejectis qua vita nota cibis Concerning the enemies of Wolfs there is no doubt but that such a ravening beast hath few friends for except in the time of copulation wherein they mingle sometime with Dogs and some-time with Leopards and sometime with other beasts all beasts both great and small do avoid their society and fellowship for it cannot be safe for strangers to live with them in any league or amity seeing in their extremity they devour one another for this cause in some of the inferiour beasts their hatred lasteth after death as many Authors have observed for if a Sheep skin be hanged up with a Wolfs skin the wool falleth off from it and if an instrument be stringed with strings made of both these beasts the one will give no sound in the presence of the other but of this matter we have spoken in the story of the sheep shewing the opinion of the best learned concerning the truth hereof The Ravens are in perpetual enmity with Wolfs and the antipathy of their natures is so violent that it is reported by Philes and Aelianus that if a Raven eat of the carcase of a beast which the Wolf hath killed or formerly tasted of she presently dyeth There are certain wilde Onions called Scillae and some say the Sea-Onion because the root hath the similitude of an Onion of all other things this is hateful to a Wolf and therefore the Arabians say that by treading on it his leg falleth into a cramp whereby his whole body many times endureth insufferable torments for the Cramp increaseth into Convulsions for which cause it is worthy to be observed how unspeakable the Lord is in all his works for whereas the VVolf is an enemy to the Fox and the Turtle he hath given secret instinct and knowledge both to this Beast and Fowl of the vertuous operation of this herb against the ravening VVolf for in their absence from their nests they leave this Onion in the mouth thereof as a sure gard to keep their young ones from the VVolf There are certain Eagles in Tartaria which are tamed who do of their own accord being set on by men adventure upon VVolves and so vex them with their talons that a man with no labour or difficulty may kill the beast and for this cause the VVolves greatly fear them and avoid them and thereupon came the common proverb Lupus fugit aquilam And thus much shall suffice to have spoken in general concerning their taking Now we will proceed to the other parts of their History and first of all of their carnal copulation They engender in the same manner as Dogs and Sea-calves do and therefore in the middle of their copulation they cleave together against their will It is observed that they begin to engender immediately after Christmass and this rage of their lust lasteth but twelve days whereupon there was wont to go a fabulous tale or reason that the cause why all of them conceived in the twelve days after Christmass was for that Latona so many days together wandered in the shape of a she VVolf in the Mountains Hyperborei for fear of Juno in which likeness she was brought to Delus but this fable is confuted by Plutarch rehearsing the words of Antipater in his Book of Beasts for he saith when the Oaks that bear Acorns do begin to cast their flowers or blossomes then the VVolves by eating thereof do open their wombs for where there is no plenty of Acorns there the young ones dye in the dams belly and therefore such Countries where there is no store of Oaks are freed from VVolves and this he saith is the true cause why they conceive but once a year and that only in the twelve days of Christmass for those Oaks flower but once a year namely in the Spring time at which season the VVolves bring forth their young ones For the time that they go with young and the number of whelps they agree with Dogs that is they bear their young nine weeks and bring forth many blinde whelps at a time according to the manner of those that have many claws on their feet Their legs are without Articles and therefore they are not able to go at the time of their littering and there is a vulgar opinion that a she VVolf doth never in all her life bring forth above nine at a time whereof the last which she bringeth forth in her old age is a Dog through weakness and
do with great noise tragically mourn for him Neither doth continuance of time mitigate or take away their grief but at length all of these faithful friends partly through grief and partly through famine they are clean consumed and brought to death Whilest they have a King the whole swarm and company is kept in awful order but he being gone they go under the protection of other Kings They have not many Kings at once neither can they endure usurpers overthrowing their houses and rooting out their stock and family And if in one swarm there be two Kings as sometimes it falleth out then one part adhereth to the one King and the other side cleaveth to the other so that sometimes in one hive you shall finde Honey-combes of sundry forms and fashions where they behave themselves so honestly and neighbourly that the one meddleth not with the others charge and business having no minde to enlarge their Empire to entice draw or win by fair means the subjects of the other side but every one being obedient to his own King without contradiction They honour him so highly that being lost they complain being decrepit they preserve and keep him being weary they carry him round about with them being dead they bewail him with all funeral pomp and heaviness yeelding up at length even their very lives for an assurance of their loves and faithful dealings Oftentimes they arrear deadly war against strangers born for the Honey that they have stoln from them as for the catching and snatching up afore-hand those flowers whereon they purposed to sit on so that sometimes the quarrel is determined by dint of sword in a just battail Oftentimes again they wrangle about their Honey-combes and dwelling houses but then the deadly and unappeaseable war is when the contention is about the life crown and dignity of their King for then they bestir themselves most eagerly defending him most valiantly and receiving the darts or stings that are bended against him with an undanted courage by the voluntary and thick interposing of their own bodies betwixt the darts and the person of their King Neither are Bees only examples to men of Political prudence and fidelity but also presidents for them to imitate in many other vertues For whereas Nature hath made them Zooa agelaia that is creatures living in companies and swarms yet do they all things for the common good of their own rout and multitude excepting ever the Drones and Theeves whom if they take tripping in the manner they reward with condign punishment Their houses are common their children common their laws and statutes common and their countrey common They couple together without question as Camels do privily and apart by themselves which whether it proceed of modesty or be done through the admirable instinct of Nature I leave it to the dispute and quaint resolution of those grave Doctors who being laden with the badges and cognizances of learning do not stick to affirm that they can render a true reason even by their own wits of all the causes in nature though never so obscure hid and difficult Flies and Dogs do far otherwise whose impudency is such that having no regard of times persons or places they will not give place or be disjoyned Yea the Massagets as Herodatus writeth having their quiver of arrows on their carts they dealt with their wives very unseasonably and though all men beheld it yet they most impudently contemned it And that which is worser this beastly fashion is crept amongst the usurpers or at least professors of the Christian name who shame not openly to kiss and embrace yea even to play and meddle with filthy whores and brothelly queans Bees surely will condemn these kinde of people of beastial impudency and wanton shamelesness or causing them to blush if they have any grace will teach them repentance Neither are they altogether such creatures as cannot endure or away with musick which is the Princess of delights and the delight of Princes as many unlearned people cannot but are exceedingly delighted with tune in any harmony wherein is no jarring so the same be simple and unaffected And although they have not the skill to daunce according to due time order and proportion in Musick as they say Elephants can yet do they make swifter or slower their flight according to the Trumpetors minde who with his sharp and shrill sound causeth them to bestir themselves more speedily but beating slowly and not so loud upon his brasen instrument maketh them more slow and to take more leisure Neither hath Nature made them only the most ingenious of all living creatures but by discipline hath made them tame and tractable For they do not only know the hand and voice of the Honey-man or him that hath the charge and ordering of the same but they also suffer him to do what liketh him best which every man must needs confess to be an argument of a generous and noble disposition thus to undergo the rule of their Over-seers and Surveyors but the hand and discipline of a stranger they will by no means endure As for oeconomical vertues they excel also and namely for moderate frugality and temperance not profusely and prodigally wasting and devouring the great store of Honey which they gathered in the Summer season but they sustain themselves therewith in Winter and that very sparingly And so whilest they feed upon few meats and those of the purest sort they purchase long life the reward of sobriety Neither are they so niggardly and sordidous minded but when as they have gathered more Honey then their number can well spend they communicate and impart some very liberally amongst the Drones As for their cleanliness these may be certain arguments that they never exonerate nature within their hives except constrained thereto by some sickness foul weather and for some urgent necessity that they convey away the dead carkasses that they touch no rotten nor stinking flesh or any other thing no herb that is withered nor no ill senting or decayed flowers They kill not their enemies within their hives they drink none but running water and that which is throughly defecated they will not dwell in houses impure and foul sluttish black or full of any feculent or dreggy refuse and the excrements of the labourers and sickly they gather on a heap without their pavilions and assoon as their leisure serveth it is carryed clean away Concerning their temperance and chastity although it hath been partly touched before yet this I will add that it is wonderful what some men have observed For whereas all other creatures do couple in the open sight of men the Elephant only excepted and Wasps likewise not much differing in kinde do the same yet Bees were never yet seen so to joyn together but either within their hives very modestly they apply themselves to that business or else abroad do it without any witnesses And they are no less valiant then modest and temperate Dum
and freely their diet and maintenance which costeth them nothing The Lockers or holes of the up-grown Bees are somewhat too large if you respect the quantity of their bodies but their combes lesser for those they build themselves and these other are made by the Bees because it was not thought convenient and indifferent so great a portion of meat to be given to such vile labourers and hirelings as was due to their own sons and daughters and those that are naturally subjects Tzetzes and some other Greeks do besides affirm that the Drones are the Bees Butlers or Porters to carry them water ascribing moreover to them a gentle and kindely heat with which they are said to keep warm cherish and nourish the young breed of the Bees by this means as it were quick ãâ¦ã g them and adding to them both life and strength The same affirmeth Columella in these words The Drones further much the Bees for the procreation of their issue for they sitting upon their kinde or generation the Bees are shaped and attain to their figure and therefore for the maintenance education and defence of a new issue they receive the more friendly entertainment And Pliny lib. 11 c 11. differeth not from him For not only they are great helpers to the Bees in any architectonical or cunning devised frame as he saith but also they do good in helping and succouring their young by giving them much warmth and kindely heat which the greater it is unlesse there be some lack of Honey in the mean space the greater will the swarm be In sum except they should stand the Bees in some good stead the Almighty would never have enclosed them both in one house and as it were made them freemen of the same City Neither doubtlesse would the Bees by main force violently break in upon them as being the sworn and professed enemies of their Common-wealth except when their slavish multitude being too much increased they might fear some violence or rebellion or for lack of provision at which time who seeth not that it were far better the Master work-men free Masons and Carpenters might be spared then the true labouring Husbandman and tiller of the earth Especially since that missing these our life is endangered for lack of meat and other necessaries and those other for a time we may very well spare without our undoing and for a need every one may build his own lodging But as they be profitable members not exceeding a stinted and certain number so if they be too many they bring a sicknesse called the Hive-evill as well because they consume the food of the Honey-making Bees as for that in regard of their extream heat they choke and suffecate them This disease is by the Author of Geoponicon thus remedied Moisten with water inwardly the lid or covering of their Hive and early in the morning opening it you shall finde Drones sitting on the drops that are on the covers for being glutted with Honey they are exceeding thirsty and by that means they will stick fast to the moist and dewie places of the cover So that with small ado you may either destroy them quite or else if you please take away what number you list your self And if you will take away withall their young who are not yet winged and first pulling off their heads throw them among the other Bees you shall bestow on them a very welcome dinner But what the dreaning of Drones portended and what matter they minister in the Hieroglyphical Art let Apomasueris reveal and disclose out of the Schools of the Egyptians and Persians I think I have discharged my duty if I have set down their true uses true nature generation degeneration description and names Fur in Latine or Theef in English is by Aristotle called Phoor of Hesychius Phoorios from whence I take the Latine word Fur to be derived Some have thought that Theeves are one proper sort of Bees although they be very great and black having a larger belly or bulk then the true Bee and yet lesser then the drones they have purchased this theevish name because they do by theft and robbery devour Honey belonging to others and not to them The Bees do easily endure and can well away with the presence of the Drones and do as it were greet and bid one another welcome but the Theeves they cannot endure in regard that the Bees do naturally hate them for in their absence the Theeves privily and by stealth creep in there robbing and consuming their treasure of Honey so greedily and hastily without chewing swallowing it down that being met withall by the true Bees in their return homewards and found so unweildy by means of their fulness that they cannot get away nor be able to resist but are ready to burst again they are severely punished and for their demerits by true Justice put to death Neither thus only do they prodigally consume and spend the Bees meat but also privily breed in their cells whereby it often cometh to passe that there are as many Drones and Theeves as true and lawful Bees These neither gather Honey nor build houses nor help to bear out any mutual labour with Bees for which cause they have Watch-men or Warders appointed to observe and oversee by night such as are over-wearied by taking great and undefatigable pains in the day time to secure them from the Theeves and Robbers who if they perceive any Theef to be stoln in a doors they presently set upon him beat and either kill him outright or leaving him for half dead they throw him out Oftentimes also it happeneth that the Theef being glutted and over-cloyed with Honey cannot flie away or get himself gone in time but lyeth wallowing before the Hives entrance until his enemies either in coming forth or returning home do so finde him and so with shame discredit and scoffingscorn slay him Aristotle appointeth no office charge or businesse to the Theef but I think that he is ordained for this end that he might be as it were a spur to prick forwards and to whet and quicken the courage of the true Bees when the other offer them any injury and to stir and to encourage them to a greater vigilancy diligence and doing of right and justice to every one particularly For I cannot see to what other purpose Theeves should serve in a Christian Common-wealth or what use might be made of such as lie in wait to displeasure and practice by crafty fetches ambushes and deceitful treacheries to wound their Neighbours either in their estimation credit or goods Thus having at large discoursed of the lesse hurtful and stinging sort of Bees I will now apply my self to a more fumish testy angry Waspish and implacable generation more venomous then the former I mean Wasps and Hornets Of WASPS A Wasp of the Chaldeans is tearmed Deibrane Of the Arabians Zambor Of the Englishmen a Wasp Of the Germans Ein Wespe Of the Belgics
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
successively together in one day and did hang in the air over a Town called Sanctogoarin shaking his tail over that Town every time it appeared visibly in the sight of many of the Inhabitants and afterwards it came to passe that the said Town was three times burned with fire to the great harm and undoing of all the people dwelling in the same for they were not able to make any resistance to quench the fire with all the might Art and power that they could raise And it was further observed that about that time there were many Dragons seen washing themselves in a certain Fountain or Well neer the Town and if any of the people did chance to drink of the water of that Well their bellies did instantly begin to swell and they dyed as if they had been poysoned Whereupon it was publiquely decreed that the said Well should be filled up with stones to the intent that never any man should afterwards be poysoned with that water and so a memory thereof was continued and these things are written by Justinus Goblerus in an Epistle to Gesner affirming that he did not write faigned things but such things as were true and as he had learned from men of great honesty and credit whose eyes did see and behold both the Dragons and the mishaps that followed by fire When the body of Cleomenes was crucified and hung upon the Crosse it is reported by them that were the watch-men about it that there came a Dragon and did winde it self about his body and with his head covered the face of the dead King oftentimes licking the same and not suffering any Bird to come neer and touch the carkasse For which cause there began to be a reverent opinion of divinity attributed to the King until such time as wise and prudent men studious of the truth found out the true cause hereof For they say that as Bees are generated out of the body of Oxen and Drones of Horses and Hornets of Asses so do the bodies of men ingender out of their marrow a Serpent and for this cause the Ancients were moved to consecrate the Dragon to Noble-spirited men and therefore there was a monument kept of the first Africanus because that under an Olive planted with his own hand a Dragon was said to preserve his ghost But I will not mingle fables and truths together and therefore I will reserve the moral discourse of this Beast unto another place and this which I have written may be sufficient to satisfie any reasonable man that there are winged Serpents and Dragons in the world And I pray God that we never have better arguments to satisfie us by his corporal and lively presence in our Countrey lest some great calamity follow thereupon Now therefore we will proceed to the love and hatred of this Beast that is observed with man and other creatures And first of all although Dragons be natural enemies to men like unto all other Serpents yet many times if there be any truth in story they have been possessed with extraordinary love both to men women and children as may appear by these particulars following There was one Aleva a Thessallan Neatherd which did keep Oxen in Ossa hard by the Fountain Hemonius there was a Dragon fell in love with this man for his hair was as yellow as any gold unto him for his hair did this Dragon often come creeping closely as a Lover to his Love and when he came unto him he would lick his hair and face so gently and in so sweet a manner as the man professed he never felt the like so as without all fear he conversed with him and as he came so would he go away again never returning to him empty but bringing some one gift or other such as his nature and kinde could lay hold on There was a Dragon also which loved Pindus the son of Macedo King of Emathia This Pindus having many Brothers most wicked and lewd persons and he only being a valiant man of honest disposition having likewise a comely and goodly personage understanding the treachery of his Brethren against him bethought himself how to avoid their hands and tyranny Now forasmuch as he knew that the Kingdom which he possessed was the only mark they all shot at he thought it better to leave that to them and so to rid himself from envy fear and peril then to embrew his hand in their bloud or to lose his life and Kingdom both together Wherefore he renounced and gave over the government and betook himself to the exercise of hunting for he was a strong man fit to combate with wilde Beasts by destruction of whom he made more room for many men upon the earth so that he passed all his days in that exercise It hapned on a day that he was hunting of a Hind-calf and spurring his Horse with all his might and main in the eager persuit thereof he rode out of the sight of all his company and suddenly the Hind-calf leaped into a very deep Cave out of the sight of Pindus the Hunter and so saved himself Then he alighted from his Horse and tyed him to the next Tree seeking out as diligently as he could for a way into the Cave whereinto the Hind-calf had leaped and when he had looked a good while about him and could finde none he heard a voyce speaking unto him and forbidding him to touch the Hind-calf which made him look about again to see if he could perceive the person from whom the voyce proceeded but espying none he grew to be afraid and thought that the voyce proceeded from some other greater cause and so leaped upon his Horse hastily and departed again to his fellows The day after he returned to the same place and when he came thither being terrified with the remembrance of the former voyce he durst not enter into the place but stood there doubting and wondering with himself what Shepheards or Hunters or other men might be in that place to diswarn him from his game and therefore he went round about to seek for some or to learn from whence the voyce proceeded While he was thus seeking there appeared unto him a Dragon of a great stature creeping upon the greatest part of his body except his neck and head lifted up a little and that little was as high as the stature of any man can reach and in this fashion he made toward Pindus who at the first sight was not a little afraid of him but yet did not run away but rather gathering his wits together remembred that he had about him Birds and divers parts of Sacrifices which instantly he gave unto the Dragon and so mitigated his fury by these gifts and as it were with a royal feast changed the cruel nature of the Dragon into kinde usage For the Dragon being smoothed over with these gifts as it were overtaken with the liberality of Pindus was contented to forsake the old place of his habitation
length of their bodies wherewithall they claspe and begirt the body of the Elephant continually biting of him until he fall down dead and in the which fall they are also bruised to pieces for the safegard of themselves they have this device they get and hide themselves in trees covering their head and letting the other part hang down like a rope in those trees they watch until the Elephant come to eat and crop of the branches then suddenly before he be aware they leap into his face and dig out his eys then do they clasp themselves about his neck and with their tails or hinder-parts beat and vex the Elephant until they have made him breathlesse for they strangle him with their fore-parts as they beat them with the hinder so that in this combat they both perish and this is the disposition of the Dragon that he never setteth upon the Elephant but with the advantage of the place and namely from some high tree or rock Sometimes again a multitude of Dragons do together observe the paths of the Elephants cross those paths they tie together their tails as it were in knots so that when the Elepant cometh along in them they insnare his legs and suddenly leap up to his eyes for that is the part they aim at above all other which they speedily pull out and so not being able to do him any harm the poor beast delivereth himself from present death by his own strength and yet through his blindenesse received in that combat he perisheth by hunger because he cannot choose his meat by smelling but by his eye-sight There is no man living that is able to give a sufficient reason of this contrariety in nature betwixt the Elephant and the Dragon although many men have laboured their wits and strained their inventions to finde out the true causes thereof but all in vain except this be one that followeth The Elephants bloud is said to be the coldest of all other Beasts and for this cause it is thought by most Writers that the Dragons in the Summer time do hide themselves in great plenty in the waters where the Elephant cometh to drink and then suddenly they leap up upon his ears because those places cannot be defended with his trunck and there they hang fast and suck out all the bloud of his body until such a time as he poor beast through faintnesse fall down and die and they being drunk with his bloud do likewise perish in the fall The Gryffins are likewise said to fight with the Dragons and overcome them The Panther also is an enemy unto the Dragons and driveth them many times into their dens There is a little Bird called Captilus by eating of which the Dragon refresheth himself when he is wearyed in hunting of other beasts And to conclude he is an enemy unto all kinde of beasts both wilde and tame as may appear by these verses of Lucan where he saith Armentaque tota secuti Rumpitis ingentes amplexi verbere Tauros Nec tutus spacio est Elephas Which may be Englished thus And following close the Heards in field Great Bulls with force of might And Elephants are made to yeeld By Dragons valiant sprite In the next place I will passe unto the poyson and venom of Dragons omitting all Poetical discourses about the worshipping and transmutation of Dragons from one kinde to another such as are the hairs of Orpheus or the teeth of the Dragon which Cadmus slew into armed men and such like fables which have no shew nor appearance of truth but are only the inventions of men to utter those things in obscure terms which they were afraid to do in plain speeches It is a question whether Dragons have any venom or poyson in them for it is thought that he hurteth more by the wound of his teeth then by his poyson Yet in Deut. 22. Moses speaketh of them as if they had poyson saying Their Wine is as the poyson of Dragons and the cruel venom of Asps So also Heliodorus speaketh of certain weapons dipped in the poyson of Dragons For which cause we are to consider that they wanting poyson in themselves become venomous two manner of ways First by the place wherein they live for in the hotter Countries they are more apt to do harm then in the colder and more temperate which caused the Poet in his verses to write of them in this manner following Vos quoque qui cunctis innoxi numina terris Serpitis aurato nitidi fulgore Dracones Pestiferos ardens facit Africa Ducitis alium Aëra cum pennis c. Which may be Englished in this manner You shining Dragons creeping on the earth Which fiery Africk yeelds with skin like gold Yet pestilent by hot infecting breath Mounted with wings in t' air we do behold So that which is spoken of the poyson of Dragons infecting the air wherein they live is to be understood of the Meteor called Draco-volans a Fire-drake which doth many times destroy the fruits of the earth seeming to be a certain burning fire in the air sometime on the Sea sometime on the land whereof I have heard this credible story from men of good worth and reputation happening about some twelve years ago upon the Western Seas upon the Coasts of England which because it is well worthy to be kept in remembrance of all posterity and containeth in it a notable work of God I have thought good to set it down in this place There was an old Fisher-man which with his two hired servants went forth to take fish according to his accustomed manner and occupation and having laid their nets watched them earnestly to finde the booty they came for and so they continued in their labour untill mid-night or thereabouts taking nothing At last there came by them a Fire-drake at the sight whereof the old man began to be much troubled and afraid telling his servants that those sights seldom portended any good and therefore prayed God to turn away all evill from them and withall willed his servants to take up their Nets lest they did all repent it afterward for he said he had known much evill follow such apparitions The young men his servants comforted him telling him that there was no cause of fear and that they had already committed themselves into the hands of Almighty GOD under whose protection they would tarry untill they had taken some fish the old man rested contented with their confidence and rather yeelded unto them then was perswaded by them A little while after the Fire-drake came again and compassed round about the Boat and ran over the Nets so that new fears and more violent passions then before possessed both the old man and his servants Wherefore they then resolved to tarry no longer but hasted to take up their Nets and be gone And taking up their Nets at one place they did hang so fast as without breaking they could not pull them out of the water wherefore
they set their Grab-hooks unto them to loose them for the day before they remembred that a Ship was cast away in the same place and therefore they thought that it might be the Nets were hanged upon some of the tacklings thereof and therein they were not much deceived for it happened that finding the place whereupon the Net did stay they pulled and found some difficulty to remove it but at last they pulled it up and found it to be a chair of beaten gold At the sight hereof their spirits were a little revived because they had attained so rich a booty and yet like men burdened with wealth especially the old man conceived new fears and wished he were on land lest some storm should fall and lay both it and them the second time in the bottom of the Sea So great is the impression of fear and the natural presage of evill in men that know but little in things to come that many times they prove true Prophets of their own destruction although they have little reason till the moment of perill come upon them and so it fell out accordingly in this old man for whilest he feared death by storms and tempests on the Sea it came upon him but by another way and means For behold the Devill entred into the hearts of his two servants and they conspired together to kill the old man their Master that so between themselves they might be owners of that great rich chair the value whereof as they conceived might make them Gentlemen and maintain them in some other Countrey all the days of their life For such was the resolution that they conceived upon the present that it would not be safe for them to return home again after the fact committed lest they should be apprehended for murder as they justly deserved their Master being so made away by them The Devill that had put this wicked motion into their mindes gave them likewise present opportunity to put the same in execution depriving them of all grace pity and piety still thrusting them forward to perform the same So that not giving him any warning of his death one of them in most savage and cruel manner dashed out his brains and the other speedily cast him into the Sea And thus the fear of this old man conceived without all reason except superstition for the sight of a Fiery-drake came upon him in a more bloudy manner then he expected but life suspected it self and rumors of peril unto guilty consciences such as all we mortal men bear are many times as forcible as the sentence of a Judge to the heart of the condemned prisoner and therefore it were happy that either we could not fear except when the causes are certain or else that we might never perish but upon premonition And therefore I conclude with the example of this man that it is not good to hold a superstitious fear lest God see it and being angry therewith bring upon us the evill which we fear But this is not the end of the story for that Fire-drake as by the sequel appeareth proved as evill to the servants as he did to the Master These two sons of the Devill made thus rich by the death of their Master forthwith they sailed towards the Coast of France but first of all they broke the Chair in pieces and wrapped it up in one of their Nets making account that it was the best fish that ever was taken in that Net and so they laid it in one end of their Bark or Fisher-boat And thus they laboured all that night and the next day till three or four of the clock at what time they espyed a Port of Britain whereof they were exceeding glad by reason that they were weary hungry and thirsty with long labour always rich in their own conceit by the gold which they had gotten which had so drawn their hearts from God as they could not fear any thought of his judgement And finally it so blinded their eyes and stopped their ears that they did not see the vengeance that followed them nor hear the cry of their Masters bloud Wherefore as they were thus rejoycing at the sight of land behold they suddenly espyed a Man of War coming towards them whereat they were appalled and began to think with themselves that their rich hopes were now at an end and they had laboured for other but yet resolved to die rather then to suffer the booty to be taken away from them And while they thus thought the Man of War approached and hailed them summoning them to come in and shew what they were they refused making forward as fast to the Land as they could Wherefore the Man of War shot certain Muskets at them and not prevailing nor they yeelding sent after them his Long-boat upon the entrance thereof they fought manfully against the assaylants until one of them was slain and the other mortally wounded who seeing his fellow kill'd and himself not likely to live yet in envy against his enemy ran presently to the place where the Chair lay in the Net and lifting the same up with all his might cast it from him into the Sea instantly falling down after that fact as one not able through weaknesse to stand any longer whereupon he was taken and before his life left him he related the whole story to them that took him earnestly desiring them to signifie so much into England which they did accordingly and as I have heard the whole story was printed and so this second History of the punishment of murder I have related in this place by occasion of the Fiery-drake in the History of the Dragon A second cause why poyson is supposed to be in Dragons is for that they often feed upon many venomous roots and therefore their poyson sticketh in their teeth whereupon many times the party bitten by them seemeth to be poysoned but this falleth out accidentally not from the nature of the Dragon but from the nature of the meat which the Dragon eateth And this is it which Homer knew and affirmed in his verses when he described a Dragon making his den neer unto the place where many venomous roots and herbs grew and by eating whereof he greatly annoyeth mankinde when he biteth them Os de Drakoon espi Xein oresteros andra menesi Bebrocos kaka pharmaka Which may be thus Englished And the Dragon which by men remains Eats evill herbs without deadly pains And therefore Aelianus saith well that when the Dragon meaneth to do most harm to men he eateth deadly poysonful herbs so that if he bite after them many not knowing the cause of the poyson and seeing or feeling venom by it do attribute that to his nature which doth proceed from his meat Besides his teeth which bite deep he also killeth with his tail for be will so begirt and pinch in the body that he doth gripe it to death and also the strokes of it are so strong that either
wherein they say is the picture of a Toad with her legs spread before and behinde And it is further affirmed that if both these stones be held in ones hand in the presence of poyson it will burn him The probation of this stone is by laying of it to a live Toad and if she lift up her head against it it is good but if she run away from it it is a counterfeit Geor. Agricola calleth the greater kinde of these stones Brontia and the lesser and smoother sort of stones Ceraunie although some contrary this opinion saying that these stones Brantia and Ceraunia are bred on the earth by thundering and lightning Whereas it is said before that the generation of this stone in the Toad proceedeth of cold that is utterly unpossible for it is described to be so solid and firm as nothing can be more hard and therefore I cannot assent unto that opinion for unto hard and solid things is required abundance of heat and again it is unlikely that whatsoever this Toad-stone be that there should be any store of them in the world as are every where visible if they were to be taken out of the Toads alive and therefore I rather agree with Salveldensis a Spaniard who thinketh that it is begotten by a certain viscous spume breathed out upon the head of some Toad by her fellows in the Spring time This stone is that which in ancient time was called Batrachites and they attribute unto it a vertue besides the former namely for the breaking of the stone in the Bladder and against the Falling-sicknesse And they further write that it is a discoverer of present poyson for in the presence of poyson it will change the colour And this is the substance of that which is written about this stone Now for my part I dare not conclude either with it or against it for Hermolaus Massarius Albertus Sylvaticus and others are directly for this stone ingendered in the brain or head of the Toad on the other side Cardan and Cesner confesse such a stone by name and nature but they make doubt of the generation of it as others have delivered and therefore they being in sundry opinions the hearing whereof might confound the Reader I will refer him for his satisfaction unto a Toad which he may easily every day kill For although when the Toad is dead the vertue thereof be lost which consisted in the eye or blew spot in the middle yet the substance remaineth and if the stone be found there in substance then is the question at an end but if it be not then must the generation of it be sought for in some other place Thus leaving the stone of the Toad we must proceed to the other parts of the story and first of all their place of habitation which for them of the water is neer the water-side and for them of the earth in bushes hedges rocks and holes of the earth never coming abroad while the Sun shineth for they hate the Sun-shine and their nature cannot endure it for which cause they keep close in their holes in the day time and in the night they come abroad Yet sometimes in rainy weather and in solitary places they come abroad in the day time All the Winter time they live under the earth feeding upon earth herbs and worms and it is said they eat earth by measure for they eat so much every day as they can gripe in their fore-foot as it were sizing themselves lest the whole earth should not serve them till the Spring Resembling herein great rich covetous men who ever spare to spend for fear they shall want before they die And for this cause in ancient time the wise Painters of Germany did picture a woman sitting upon a Toad to signifie covetousnesse They also love to eat Sage and yet the root of Sage is to them deadly poyson They destroy Bees without all danger to themselves for they will creep to the holes of their Hives and there blow in upon the Bees by which breath they draw them out of the Hive and so destroy them as they come out for this cause also at the Water-side they lie in wait to catch them When they come to drink in the day time they see little or nothing but in the night time they see perfectly and therefore they come then abroad About their generation there are many worthy observations in nature sometimes they are bred out of the putrefaction and corruption of the earth it hath also been seen that out of the ashes of a Toad burnt not only one but many Toads have been regenerated the year following In the New-world there is a Province called Dariene the air whereof is wonderful unwholesome because all the Countrey standeth upon rotten marishes It is there observed that when the slaves or servants water the pavements of the dores from the drops of water which fall on the right hand are instantly many Toads ingendered as in other places such drops of water are turned into Gnats It hath also been seen that women conceiving with childe have likewise conceived at the same time a Frog or a Toad or a Lizard and therefore Platearius saith that those things which are medicines to provoke the menstruous course of women do also bring forth the Secondines And some have called Bufonem fratrem Salernitanorum lacertam fratrem Lombardorum that is a Toad the Brother of the Salernitâns and the Lizard the Brother of the Lombards for it hath been seen that a woman of Salernum hath at one time brought forth a Boy and a Toad and therefore he calleth the Toad his Brother so likewise a woman of Lombardy a Lizard and therefove he calleth the Lizard the Lombards Brother And for this cause the women of those Countries at such time as their childe beginneth to quicken in their womb do drink the juyce of Parsley and Leeks to kill such conceptions if any be There was a woman newly marryed and when in the opinion of all she was with childe in stead of a childe she brought forth four little living creatures like Frogs yet she remained in good health but a little while after she felt some pain about the rim of her belly which afterward was eased by applying a few remedies Also there was another woman which together with a Man-childe in her Secondines did bring forth such another Beast and after that a Merchants wife did the like in Aneonitum But what should be the reason of these so strange and unnatural conceptions I will not take upon me to decide in nature lest the Omnipotent hand of God should be wronged and his most secret and just counsel presumptuously judged and called into question This we know that it was prophesied in the Revelation that Frogs and Locusts should come out of the Whore of Babylon and the bottomlesse pit and therefore seeing the seat of the Whore of Babylon is in Italy it may be that God would have manifested
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 ãâã be a Bull at Alâars solemn sacrifice ãâã I fear to tell two monstrom Snakes appeared Out of Tenedus shore both calm and deep did rise One pâât in Sea the other on Land was reared Their ãâã 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 Avioân 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
and windows thereof make their lodgings and sometims in dead-mens graves and Sepulchres but most commonly they climbe and creep aloft so as they fall down again sometimes into the meat as it is in dressing and sometimes into other things as we have already said into Socrates mouth and when they descend of their own accord they creep side-long They eat Honey and for that cause creep into the Hives of Bees except they be very carefully stopped as Virgil writeth Nam saepe favos ignotus adedit Stellio Many times the Stellion at unawares meeteth with the Honey-combs They also of Italy many times eat Spiders They all lie hid four months of the year in which time they eat nothing and twice in the year that is to say both in the Spring time and Autumn they cast their skin which they greedily eat so soon as they have stripped it off Which Theophrastus and other Authors write is an envious part in this Serpent or creeping creature because they understand that it is a noble remedy against the Falling-sicknesse wherefore to keep men from the benefit and good which might come thereby they speedily devour it And from this envious and subtile part of the Stellion cometh the crime in Vlpianus called Crimen Stellionatus that is when one man fraudulently preventeth another of his money or wares or bargain even as the Stellion doth man kinde of the remedy which cometh unto them by and from his skin The crime is also called Extortion and among the Romans when the Tribunes did withdraw from the Souldiers their provision of victual and corn it is said Tribunes qui per Stellaturas Militibus aliquid abstulissent capitali poena affecit And therefore Budeus relateth a History of two Tribunes who for this stellature were worthily stoned to death by the commandment of the Emperor And all frauds whatsoever are likewise taxed by this name which were not punishable but by the doom of the Supream or highest Judge and thereupon Alciatus made this Emblem following Parva lacerta atris Stellatus corpare guttis Stellio qui latebras cava busta colit Invidiae pravique doli fert symbola pictus Heâ nimium nuribus cognita Zelotypis Nam turpi obtegitur faciem lentigine quisquis Sit quibus immersus Stellio vina bibat Hinc vindicta frequens decepta pellice vino Quam forma amisso flore relinquit amans Which may be Englished thus The little Lizard on Stellion starred in body grain In seoret holes and graves of dead which doth remain When painted you it see or drawn before the eye A symbole then you view of deep deceit and cursed envy Alas this is a thing to jealous wives known too well For whosoever of that Wine doth drink his fill Wherein a Stellion bath been drencht to death His face with filthy Lentile spots all ugly it appeareth Herewith a Lover oft requites the fraud of concubine Depriving her of beauties biew by draught of this samâ Wine The Poet Ovid hath a pretty fiction of the Original of this cursed envy in Stellions for he writeth of one Abas the son of Motaneira that received Ceres kindely into her house and gave her hospitality whereat the said Abas being displeased derided the sacrifice which his mother made to Cores the Goddesse seeing the wretched nature of the young man and his extream impiety against the sacrifice of his Mother took the Wine left in the goblet after the sacrifice and poured the same upon his head whereupon he was immediately turned into a Stellion as it is thus related by Ovil Metam 5. Combibit âs maculas quae mode brachia gessit Crura gerit cauda est mutatis addita membris Inque brevem formam ne sit vis magna nocendi Contrahitur parvaque minor mensura lacerta est In English thus His âcuah suckt in those spots and now where arms did stand His legs appear and to his changed parts was put a tail And lest it should have power to harm small was the bodies band And of the Lizards poysonous this least in shape did vail Their bodies are very brittle so as if at any time they chance to fall they break their tails They lay very small egges out of which they are generated and Pliny writeth that the juyce or liquor of these egges laid upon a mans body causeth the hair to fall off and also never more permitteth it to grow again But whereas we have said it devoureth the skin to the damage and hurt of men you must remember that in ancient time the people did not want their policies and devises to take away this skin from them before they could eat it And therefore in the Summer time they watched the lodging place and hole of the Lizard and then in the end of the Winter toward the Spring they took Reeds and did cleave them in sunder these they composed into little Cabinets and set them upon the hole of the Serpent Now when it awaked and would come forth it being grieved with the thicknesse and straightnesse of his skin presseth out of his hole through those Reeds or Cabinet and finding the same somewhat straight is the more glad to take it for a remedy so by little and little it slideth through and being through it leaveth the skin behinde in the Cabinet into the which it cannot re-enter to devour it Thus is this wily Serpent by the policy of man justly beguiled losing that which it so greatly desireth to possesse and changing nature to line his guts with his coat is prevented from that gluttony it being sufficient to have had it for a cover in the Winter and therefore unsufferable that it should make food thereof and eat the same in the Summer These Stellions like as other Serpents have also their enemies in nature as first of all they are hated by the Asses for they love to be about the Mangers and racks on which the Asse feedeth and from thence many times they creep into the Asses open Nostrils and by that means hinder his eating But above all other there is greatest antipathy in nature betwixt this Serpent and the Scorpion for if a Scorpion do but see one of these it falleth into a deep fear and a cold sweat out of which it is delivered again very speedily and for this cause a Stellion putrified in Oyl is a notable remedy against the biting of a Scorpion and the like war and dissension is affirmed to be betwixt the Stellion and the Spider We have shewed already the difference of Stellions of Italy from them of Greece how these are of a deadly poysonous nature and the other innocent and harmlesse and therefore now it is also convenient that we should shew the nature and cure of this poyson which is in this manner Whensoever any man is bitten by a Stellion he hath ach and pain thereof continually and the wound received looketh very pale in colour the cure whereof according to the
and many of them did climbe up and down upon that Tree There is no love betweene this Serpent and other creatures save onely to his own kind and therefore there are two things memorable in the nature of this savage Serpent the one is the love of the male to the female and the other of the female to her young ones It is reported by Saint Ambrose and Saint Basill that when the male misseth the female he seeketh her out very diligently and with a pleasing and flattering noyse calleth for her and when he perceiveth she approcheth he casteth up all his venome as it were in reverence of matrimonial dignity The female on the other side maketh much of her young ones licking and adorning their skins fighting for them unto death both against men and beasts For this occasion and some medicinal uses the Arabians counted Vipers holy Serpents for by reason as we have said already that the Vipers do haunt the Balsom-trees whereof there be plenty in that countrey they hold them for holy keepers of that precious fruite wherefore they never kill them but at the time of year when the Balsom is ripe they come unto the trees bearing in their hands two woodden rules which they smite one against another by the noise whereof the Vipers are terrified and driven away and so the Trees are freed for the Inhabitants to take the fruite thereof at their pleasure Now forasmuch as we read that Porus King of India sent many great Vipers for a gift unto Augustus it is profitable to expresse the meanes whereby Vipers are safely taken without doing any harme Wherefore Aristotle writeth that they are very much desirous of Wine and for that cause the Country-people set little vessels of wine in the hedges and haunts of Vipers whereunto the Vipers coming easily drink themselves tame and so the Hunters come and kill them or else so take them as they are without danger of harm Pliny reporteth that in ancient time the Marsians in Lybia did hunt Vipers and never received harm of them for by a secret and innate vertue all Vipers and serpents are afraid of their bodies as we have already shewed in other places Yet Galen in his discourse to Piso writeth that the Marsians in his time had no such vertue in them as he had often tried save onely that they used a deceit or sleight to beguile the people which was in this manner following Long after the usual time of hunting Vipers they use to goe abroad to take them when there is no courage nor scant any venom left in them for the Vipers are then easily taken if they can be found and them so taken they accustome to their own bodies by given them such meats as doth evacuate all their poison or at the least-wise doth so stop up their teeth as it maketh the harm very small and so the simple people being ignorant of this fraud and seeing them apparently carrying Vipers about them did ignorantly attribute a vertue to their natures which in truth did not belong unto them In like manner there were as hath already in another place been said certain Iuglers in Italy which did boast themselves to be of the linage of Saint Paul who did so deceitfully carry themselves that in the presence and sight of many people they suffered Vipers to bite them without any manner of harm Others again when they had taken a Viper did drown her head in mans spittle by vertue whereof the Viper began to grow tame and meek Besides this they made a certain oyntment which they set forth to sale affirming it to have a vertue against the biting of Vipers and all other Serpents which oyntment was made in this manner Out of the oyl of the seed of Wild-radish of the roots of Dragons the juyce of Daffadil the brain of a Hare leaves of Sage Sprigs of Bay and a few such other things whereby they deceived the people and got much money and therefore to conclude I cannot find any more excellent way for the taking and destroying of Vipers then that which is already expressed in the general discourse of Serpents We do read that in Egypt they eat Vipers and divers other Serpents with no more difficulty then they would do Eeles so do many people both in the Eastern and western parts of the New-found-lands And the very self-same thing is reported of the Inhabitants of the Mountaine Athos the which meat they prepare and dresse on this manner First they cut off their heads and also their tailes then they bowel them and salt them after which they seethe them or bake them as a man would seethe or bake Eeles but sometimes they hang them up and dry them and then when they take them down again they eat them with Oyl Salt Anyseedes Leeks and water with some such other observations Whose diet of eating Vipers I do much pity if the want of other food constrain them thereunto but if it arise from the insatiable and greedy intemperancy of their own appetites I judge them eager of dainties which adventure for it at such a market of poyson Now it followeth that we proceed to the handling of that part of the Vipers story which concerneth the venom or poison that is in it which must begin at the consideration of temperament of this Serpent It is some question among the learned whether a Viper be hot or cold and for answer hereof it is said that it is of cold constitution because it lieth hid and almost dead in the Winter-time wherein a man may carry them in his hands without all hurt or danger and unto this opinion for this self same reason agreeth Galen Mercuriall maketh a treble diversity of constitution among Serpents whereof the first sort are those that with their wound do infuse a mortal poyson that killeth instantly and without delay a second sort are those that kill but more leasurely without any such speed and the third are those whose poyson is more slow in operation then is the second among which he assigneth the Viper But although by this slowness of operation he would inforce the coldness of the poyson yet it is alwaies to be considered that the difference of Vipers and of their venom ariseth from the place and region in which they are bred and also from the time of the yeer wherein they bite and wound so that except they fortune to hurt any one during the time of the Canicular daies in which season their poyson is hottest and themselves most full of spirit the same is but weak and full of deadness And again it is to be considered whether the Viper harm in her mood and fury for anger doth thrust it forth more fully and causeth the same to work more deadly Likewise the Region wherein they live begetteth a more lively working spirit in the Serpent and therefore before all other the Vipers of Numidia are preferred because of the heat of that Country Also their meat
Thyme Galen rejects and yet is of it self a most sweet and fragrant smell and not without a certain spirituous fragrancy such is that which in the middle of the spring is perceived to be in the air about break of day But if it have an ill savour it is putrefied not being well kept If it smell strong it hath contracted some contagion from Hemlock if it sting as it were and prick the nose with its sent it is an argument of some poyson or too much acrimony couched in it If it smell not at all it is stark dead no spirit in it If it smell of Thyme Linden or Teil-tree Rosemary Box Wormwood c. it shewes that it is degenerated into their nature The like is to be said of the Taste of honey which is known either by the herbs age of it or by the colour of it to be mixt or adulterate or natural that is to say striking and filling the tongue with a certain fine and lively sweetness so that it may seem to some to be a little tart As for what concerns the colour of the best honey in the Tigremahonick and Tagodostick Region that of a milky colour is preferred in hotter Countreys that which is white and transparent but commonly that which carries away the garland and is esteemed above the rest is yellow and of the colour of Gold And in the second rank is that which is white and transparent which I with Aristotle should put in the first place For that it is a sign of pure honey and not infected with any tincture of herbs The bright shining is also by him commended if it be not summer honey for the honey that is gathered at that season of the year like wax or butter either by reason of the abundance of yellow flowers or the scorching heat of the air it comes to be of a deep and full yellow yea almost quite red But if the Erycaean or Anthine appear reddish it is not without cause accounted unwholsome because it is not in its season Suspected and of ill name are the black duskie bright red and above all the lead colours which whether they appear in the comb or in the honey sometimes are evident signs of corruption and putrefaction and sometimes of poyson That honey is best in touch that is fat clammy glutinous heavy and most like to the clear liquor of Turpentine every where like it self that is pure without any or with very few dregs that is melted with a very soft fire and with the least cold as it were congealed into little stones The Energetical or operative qualities of honey are seen in the use of it the which is of divers sorts whether you turn you to the Apothecaries shop or to the Kitchen for so mightily doth it nourish and preserve health entire and men long-lived that the Greeks thought the Cyrneans by reason of their constant using of it lived long being old men as Herodotus Athenaus and Diodorus Siculus testifie Pollio indeed being asked how it came to pass that he lived to be so old as he was made answer Because from his youth he used Oyl without his body and Wine mingled with Honey within More then this all flowers fruits simples and compounded medicaments or confections by mingling them with honey are preserved entire from putrefaction in which faculty or virtue it so excells that even the Babylonians were wont to bury the dead corpses of their noble men in it as Herodotus witnesseth in Thalia Vintners also and such as deal in Wines that will play the knaves when they observe a piece of Wine decaying and at its last almost then they put honey to it to bring it to life again by which means the sophisticate wine appears pure and relisheth very well upon the palat though never so critical and curious It is not subject to putrefaction Fruits and all other bodies are kept in it very long yet if it be but touched by its enemy bread it putrefies They therefore that sell honey are very wary lest children as they pass by should dip their bread in it for so it will presently corrupt and turn into Ants or such like creatures if we will believe Paracelsus for his natural skill in the nature of things a most famous Philosopher With admixtion of honey also Galen amendeth the naughtiness of sweet meats when they begin to fail Honey mingled with other things doth both nourish and cause a good colour but taken by it self without any other thing it doth rather make the body lean than nourish it because it doth cause urine and purge the belly beyond all measure Hippocrates saith if you take the seeds of Cucumers or the seeds of any other plant and keep them for some time in honey and afterwards sow or set them the fruit that groweth of them will taste the sweeter As for the medicinal and Physical vertues of Honey It causeth heat cleanseth sores and ulcers excellently wears them away and removes them in what part of the body soever gathered as Galen Avicen Celsus and Pliny have observed It perfectly cureth the disease which causeth the hair of the head or beard to come off by the roots called the Foxes evill and other filthy ulcers of the head Plin. To regain hair lost by the disease aforesaid and for long Agues it is very effectual if the party be anointed with it raw as it is or with the honey-comb newly dreined or emptied Galen But above and beyond all the Oyl of honey distilled doth effect it The water that droppeth from the honey doth excellently cleanse the skin provoke urine extinguish the burning heat of Feavers open the obstructions of the bowels quench thirst The chaulk or salt of it as it is of all corrosives the least painful so it is most energetical and operative and therefore is very much commended by Chymicks and Chirurgeons for to cure that kernell or tumour of flesh which groweth upon the yard But how many and how ample virtues that quintessence of Honey as they call it hath attained against the strength of all diseases whatsoever is excellently described by Isaacus Belga the predecessor of Paracelsus Nay without doubt if wilde honey and raw was able so to prolong the health and life of Democrates Pollio John the Baptist in a word of the Pythagoreans and Cyrneans as aforementioned how much more will it do being refined and heightned to the highest degree of nutrition The Epicureans who took the best way they could to provide for their health and their pleasure fed alwaies upon Ambrosia as Tzetzes reports which did consist of a tenth part of honey as if they meant by the use of it to stave off all pains and griefs and live free from all diseases and maladies It doth wonderfully help the ulcers in the ears if it be powred warm into them and especially if an ill sent be joyned with them Moreover in their histing noyses inflamations Galen commands to instill
of bitter choler innumerable worms are oft-times found And I see no reason why Worms may not breed from yellow choler as well as in Wormwood from melancholy as well as in stones from bloud as well as in sugar But if they be not bred from them whence have they matter that they breed of The Physician of Padua will answer It remains therefore that they can breed only of raw flegm which either ariseth from too great quantity of the best meats for want of heat or quantity of bad meats corrupt by depravation which opinion though it well agree with Galen Aegineta Aetius Avenzoar Avicenna Coluânella Celsus Alexander and chiefly with our Mercurialis yet in my judgement Hippocrates is in the right who thought that living creatures are bred in the little world as well as they are in the great Therefore as in the earth there are all kinde of humours heat and spirit that it may nourish living creatures that breed so hath man all kinde of moisture that mourisheth things that breed Moreover when as these living creatures do represent perfectly Earth-worms no man in his wits will deny but that they have both the same original What flegm is there in the earth yet it breeds round Worms and Gourd-fushioned and Ascarides and all sorts of Worms and the best and warmest earth abounds with them so far is it that they should breed only of raw and corrupt humours Do we not also daily see that Worms are voided by men that are in health For I knew a woman of Flanders that at Francfort on the Main which from her youth till she was forty years old did daily void some round Worms without any impairing of her health and she was never sick of them I conclude therefore that from every raw humour of the body Worms may breed and not only from crude or corrupted flegm The formal cause depends from internal heat which is weak gentle pleasing and fit to breed living creatures wherein that plastick force of Caleodick Nature to use the word of Avicennas doth make the colours by the degrees of secret heat and sporting her self doth make that broad form of Gourd-worms and some-times of Lizards Toads Grass-worms Catterpillers Snakes Eels as we read in Histories This doth give them taste feeling and motion this gives them that force of attracting whereby they forcibly draw forth with greediness the juices that slip into the guts If it were not so that heat that consumes all things might perhaps dispose the matter that is changed by putrefaction but it would never give the form and figure of a living creature For it is not because the guts are round that round Worms are bred in them as some men dream but the external form depends from the internal and the spirit drawn forth of the bosome of the soul it self doth frame the shapes without a Carver or Smith This spirit is the mediate efficient cause but God himself is the principal cause in this and other things in whom as well as we the Worms are move and have their being The final cause shewes their use which declares Gods omnipotency Natures majesty and the singular providence of both for mans good For there are collected in us some putrefied excremental superfluous parts which the more bountiful hand of Nature changeth into Worms and so cleanseth our bodies as we account it a good sign of health to be full of lice after a long disease also they consume much superfluous moisture in mans body and unless they grow too many for then they feed on our nutrimental juice they are a great help to the guts so far is it that they should be accounted by physitians amongst diseases or the beginnings of diseases Amongst the concomitant causes I reckon the place and the countrey For though they are more common to children than to those that are of years to women than men in a pestilential than a healthful time in Autumn than in the Spring to such as use an ill diet rather than to those that keep an exact diet yet they accompany all ages sexes conditions seasons diets for no man is priviledged from them yet some places or climates are free for according to the nature of them in some many in others no Worms will breed for all kinde of Worms will not breed in each part of the guts but round Worms only in âhe small guts Ascarides in the Longanum the Gourd-worms only are bred in all Also as Theophrastus and Pliny testifie there are no small differences amongst Nations and Countreys lib. hist pl. 9. c. 2. Lib. Nat. hist 27. cap. 13. For broad or Gourd-worms are common amongst the Egyptians Arabians Syrians and Cilicians again they of Thracia and Phrygia know them not And though the Boeotians and Athenians are under the same Confines they are frequently full of Worms and these are by a priviledge as it were freed from them He only will admire at this or think it a Fable who knowes not that the nature of Countreys vary according to the position of the stars the nature of the winds and the condition of the earth There is a River saith Aristotle lib. de nat anim c. 28. in Cephalenia that parts an Island and on one side of it there is great abundance of Grashoppers but none on the other In Prodoselena there is a way goeth between and on one side of it a Cat will breed but not on the other side In the Lake Orchomenius of Boeotia there are abundance of Moles but in Lebadius that is hard by there are none and brought from other parts they will not dig the earth In the Island Ithaca Hares cannot live nor in Sicily flying Ants nor in the Countrey of Cyrene vocal Frogs nor in Ireland as we know any kinde of venomous creature The reason of all this he can only tell who hath hanged the earth in the air without a foundation for it is not my eye that can see so far nor have I any minde to affect to know things above my understanding I leave that work to those that dare aspire To know Gods secrets let me them admire CHAP. XXXIII Of the signs and cure of Worms out of Gabucinus LEt us therefore shew the signs of Worms beginning from those that are called round Worms both because these do more frequently vex children and because they produce more cruel symptomes of which Paulus writes thus they that are troubled with round Worms are cruelly torn in their bellies and guts and they have a tickling cough that is troublesome and somewhat tedious some have a hickop others when they sleep leap up and rise without cause sometimes they cry out when they rise and then they fall asleep again their Arteries beat unequally and they are sick of disorderly Feavers which with coldness of the outward parts come thrice or four times in a day or a night without any reason for them Children will eat in their sleep and put forth their tongues
Pliny Aristotle Oppianus Their love of Wine Use of their parts Avicenna Albertus Rasis Arcteus Galen Aelianus Aeue Silvi The several names Bellonius Bellonius The quils and spears The den and food The use of the flesh and other parts Of the several names The colour and several parts A preface to the succeeding story That there is such a beast as the Rhinoceros The name and reason thereof Oppianus The quantity and several parts The several names The description of dives kinds of Sheep according to their Country Strabo The description of the Arabian sheep Flocks of wilde sheep Oppianus The several parts of sheep The food of Sheep and institution of shepheards Pliny Areanus * * * Oves capras The descripaâon of a shepheards care out of Virgil The reason why the sheep of England do not drink Of the copulation of Sheep Aristotle Albertus Helps for the copulation of Sheep Means to make the Rams get males or females Albertus The yeaning of Lambs Bathius Albertus Custody of Ewes and young Lambs and means to encrease their milk Of the wintering and stabling of sheep Palladius Pet. Crescent The fashion of sheep-coats or stables The manner how in old time they bought and sold sheep The general discipline of shepheards Of the diseases of Sheep The original cause of scabs Coelius Herodotus Of the several commodity utility coming by Sheep and first of their flesh Of their milk Columella Palladius Celsus Shearing time in England The value of English wool and the use thereof The wool of other Countries Of the colours of Wool The lasting of Wool The use of Sheep skins Ruellius Of the dung of Sheep The inward qualities of Sheep and their moral uses Hermolaus Aratus Love and hatred of Sheep Aristotle Coelius The several names of Rams The chief of Rams for breed Palladius Crescentius Golumella Albertus The resemblance betwixt the Sun and the Ram. Macrobius Coelius The sign of the Ram in the Zodiack Poetical sictions riddles Didymus Aristotle The best time of copulation Their rage in Ramming time Martial and warlike inventions called Rams Moral uses of Rams horns Aelianus Plutarch Coelius Cardan The story of Phryxus and the Ram with a golden fleece Apollonius Hermolaus Apollonius Gyraldus The fleece of Colchis Tzetzes Transmutation of Rams Herodotus Strabo Sacrificing of Rams among the Genules Gyraldus Pliny Festus The several names Aristotle Aelianus Of the meek disposition of Lambs Didymus Varro Pliny Democritus Pliny Galen Pliny Marcellus Pliny Marcellus Dioscorides Hippocrates Rasis Pliny Marcellus Hippocrates Pliny Albertus Pliny Marcellus Galen Pliny Marcellus Furnerius Crescentien Pliny Marcellus Dioscorides Pliny Vegetius Pliny Obscurus Rasis Pliny Albertus Pliny Sylvaticus Columella Marcellus Galen Pliny Serenus Galen Serenus Pliny Galen Marcellus Dioscorides Marcellus Pliny Avicenna Sextus Marcellus Marcellus Sextus Aesculapius Marcellus Pliny Sextus Aetius Pliny Hippocrates Marcellus Pliny Marcellus Pliny Marcellus Pliny Bellonius Sylvaticus Alunnus Erythraeus The âtim ãâ¦ã gy of the Greek and Latine names A history of the family of Scrosa Coelius Names of men taken from Swine Alex. ab Ale A fiction of a Hogs will and and testament The epithets of Swine Countries wherein Swine do not breed Pet Martyr The anatomy and several parts Aristotle Aristotle The choice or outward marks of the best Swine The food of Swine Nigidius Pliny Places of their abode Varro Aelianus Albertus Aelianus Columella The great fatness of Swine The meat and best manner to fatten Hogs Aelianus Albertus Of the copulation and breed of Swine The times of a Sows Boaring Pliny Niphus Aristotle The number which a Sow beareth The office and first institution of Swine-herds Columella Palladius Pliny Festus Abnezoor The nature of this beast Adamantius Pliny Aelianus Horus Calcagninus Varro Pliny Sextus Xenophon Coelius Gillius Erasmus Macrobius Vobiscus Palladius The use of their skins Theophrastus Tuss Husb. Pliny Aelianus Aetius Marcellus Aelianus Galen Marcellus Pliny The Epithets Of the wilde Boars parts and other accidents Oppianus Gillius The places of their abode The generation of wilde Swine The fight of Boars Swimming of Boars Of the hunting of wilde Boars Politick means to take Boars Men that have perished by Boars in hunting Pliny Marcellus Sextus Sextus Marcellus The names of Tigers Of the Riv ãâ¦ã Tigris Countries breeding Tigers Quantity of Tigers The several parts Oppianus The Epithes Their food A history Their copulation and generarion The taking and killing of Tigers Plutarch Calistenes Philostratus Eating of Tigers Many beasts with horns improperây called Unicorns Solinus Aelianus Oppianus Whether there be any Unicorns in the World The Hebrew names in Scripture prove Unicorns The kindes of Unicorns Countries of Unicorns The use of a Unicorns horn Oâher diâcouâsâs of the horn Philes Gerbellius A second History of a Unicorns born A third History of a Unicorns horn Another description of the Unicorn Of adulterated Unicorns horns Of the Unicorns horns found in âolonia The natural properties of Unicorns Philes Aelianus The taking of Unicorns Albertus Alunnus Tzetzes The several names The several parts Places of their abode Countreys of their breed Their stature Use of their parts Histories of other wilde Oxen. Aelianus Leo African Pliny Strabo Paul Venet. Aelianus Pliny Aristotle Silvaticus Scopa Albertus Niphus The etymology of Weasels The epithets colour and several parts Of the Lemmar Places of their abode Their copulation and conception The signification of a Weasels occurrence Vâsinus Aetius Avicenna Theophrastus Dioscorides Galen Pliny Albertus Serenus Myrepsus Pliny Galen Dioscorides Rasis Archigenes Isidorus Galen Sextus Pliny Kiranides Aeginetta Avicenna Aelianus The severall names Aesculopius The notation of Lupus and Lycos Named apellatives derived from a Wolf Countreys breeding Wolves The severall kindes of Wolves Oppianus Wolves are not wilde Dogs The voices of Wolfs The several parts Coelius Stumpsius The meat and voracity of Wolfs Aelianus Philes Albertus Textor Albertus Aelianus The harm of Wolfs Orus A history Men destroyed by Wolls Câlius Tzetzes The taking of Wolfs and the reward of the hunters Divers policies and inventions to take Wolfs Poysoning of Wolves The enemies of Wolves Their copulalation and procreation The Epithets and natural disposition The apology of Wolves and Lambs The particular disposition of Wolves Of tamed Wolves Albertus The Wolf hath no friend but the Parrot Bellonius And. Bellu. Arrian Pliny Sextus Blondus Avicen Dioscorides Galen Pliny Sylvius Albertus Rasis Marcellus Galen Avicenna The first fault is in this Edition amended Augustine Epiphan Zanchius Textor Mr. Will. Morley of Glynde in Suffex Plutarch Ca. Oppius Iul. Higinus Gellius Pierius Pierius Pliny Galen Plutarch Pierius Textor Macrobius Coelius Rho. Pliny Obsequens Pliny Aristotle Aelianus Hâlinshed Aelianus Isidorus Mela. Pliny Megasth Solinus Textor Strabo Aelianus Alosius Gellius Scaliger Cardan P. Fagius Venetus Hatthonus Pierius Solinus Aelianus Cor. Celsus Pierius Scaliger Olaus Mag. Eupâlides Diod. Sicul. Arrianus Suetonius Pliny Epist 5. Aelianus Grevinus Olaus Mag. Textor Pliny Mercurialis Pliny Aelianus
upright that he deemed them at first to be an Army of enemies and commanded to joyn battel with them untill he was certified by Taxilus a King of that Countrey then in his Campe they were but Apes In Caucasus there are trees of Pepper and Spices whereof Apes are the gatherers living among those trees for the Inhabitants come and under the trees make plain a plat of ground and afterward cast thereupon boughs and branches of Pepper and other fruits as it were carelesly which the Apes secretly observing in the night season they gather together in great abundance all the branches loaden with Pepper and lay them on heaps upon that plat of ground and so in the morning come the Indians and gather the Pepper from those boughs in great measure reaping no small advantage by the labor of Apes who gather their fruits for them whiles they sleep for which cause they love them and defend them from Lions Dogs and other wild Beasts In the region of Basman subject to the great Cham of Tartaria are many and divers sorts of Apes very like mankind which when the Hunters take they pull of their hairs all but the beard and the hole behind and afterward dry them with hot spices and poudering them sell them to Merchants who carry them about the world perswading simple people that there are men in Islands of no greater stature To conclude there are Apes in Troglodytae which are maned about the neck like Lions as big as great Bel-weathers So are some called Cercopitheci Munkies Choeropitheci Hog Apes Cepi Callitriches Marmosits Cynocephali of a Dog and an Ape Satyres and Sphinges of which we will speak in order for they are not all alike but some resemble men one way and some another as for a Chymaera which Albertus maketh an Ape it is but a figment of the Poets The same man maketh Pigmeys a kind of Apes and not men but Niphus proveth that they are not men because they have no perfect use of Reason no modesty no honesty nor justice of government and although they speak yet is their language imperfect and above all they cannot be men because they have no Religion which Plato saith truly is proper to every man Besides their stature being not past three four or five spans long their life not above eight years and their imitation of man do plainly prove them rather to be Apes then Men and also the flatness of their Noses their combats with Cranes and Partridges for their egges and other circumstances I will not stand upon but follow the description of Apes in general Apes do outwardly resemble men very much and Vesalius sheweth that their proportion differeth from mans in more things then Galen observed as in the muscles of the breast and those that move the armes the elbow and the ham likewise in the inward frame of the hand in the muscles moving the toes of the feet and the feet and shoulders and in the instrument moving in the sole of the foot also in the fundament and mesentery the lap of the liver and the hollow vein holding it up which men have not yet in their face nostrils ears eye-lids breasts armes thumbes fingers and nails they agree very much Their hair is very harsh and short and therefore hairy in the upper part like men and in the neather part like beasts they have teeth before and behind like men having a round face and ey-lids above and beneath which other Quadrupedes have not Politianus saith that the face of a Bull or Lion is more comely then the face of an Ape which is like a mans They have two Dugs their breasts and armes like men but rougher such as they use to bend as a man doth his foot So their hands fingers and nails are like a mans but ruder and nimbler and nature having placed their Dugs in their breast gave them armes to lift their young ones up to suck them Their feet are proper and not like mans having the middle one longest for they are like great hands and consist of fingers like hands but they are alike in bigness except that which is least to a man is greatest to an Ape whose sole is like the hand but that it is longer and in the hinder part it is more fleshy somewhat resembling a heel but put backward it is like a fist They use their feet both for going and handling the neather parts of their armes and their thighes are shorter then the proportion of their elbows and shins they have no Navel but there is a hard thing in that place the upper part of their body is far greater then the neather like other Quadrupedes consisting of a proportion between five and three by reason wereof they grow out of kind having feet like hands and feet They live more downward then upward like other four-footed Beasts and they want Buttocks although Albertus saith they have large ones they have no tail like two legged creatures or a very small signe thereof The genitall or privy place of the female is like a Womans but the Males is like a Dogs their nourishment goeth more forward then backward like the best Horses and the Arabian Seraph which are higher before then behind and that Ape whose meat goeth forward by reason of the heat of heart and liver is most like to a man in standing upright their eyes are hollow and that thing in men is accounted for a signe of a malicious mind as little eyes are a token of a base and abject spirit Men that have low and flat Nostrils are Libidinous as Apes that attempt women and having thick lips the upper hanging over the neather they are deemed fools like the lips of Asses and Apes Albertus saith he saw the heart of a Male Ape having two tops or sharpe ends which I know not whether to term a wonder or a Monster An Ape and a Cat have a small back and so hath a weak hearted man a broad and stong back signifieth a valiant and magnanimous mind The Apes nails are half round and when they are in copulation they bend their Elbowes before them the sinews of their hinder joynts being turned clean about but with a man it is clean otherwise The veins of their armes are no otherwise dissected then a mans having a very small and ridiculous crooked thumb by reason of the Muscles which come out of the hinder part of the leg into the middle of the shin and the fore muscles drawing the leg backward they cannot exactly stand upright and therefore they run and stand like a man that counterfeits a lame mans halting And as the body of an Ape is ridiculous by reason of an indecent likeness and imitation of man so is his soul or spirit for they are kept only in rich mens houses to sport withall being for that cause easily tamed following every action he seeth done even to his own harme without discretion A certain Ape
after a shipwrack swimming to land was seen by a Countrey-man and thinking him to be a man in the water gave him his hand to save him yet in the mean time asked him what Countreyman he was who answered he was an Athenian well said the man dost thou know Piraeus which was a port in Athens very well said the Ape and his wife friends and children where at the man being moved did what he could to drown him They keep for the most part in Caves and hollow places of hils in rocks and trees feeding upon Apples and Nuts but if they find any bitterness in the shell they cast all away They eat Lice and pick them out of heads and garments They will drink wine till they be drunk but if they drink it oft they grow not great specially they lose their nails as other Quadrupedes do They are best contented to sit aloft although tied with chains They are taken by laying for them shoos and other things for they which hunt them will anoint their eyes with water in their presence and so departing leave a pot of lime or hony in stead of the water which the Ape espying cometh and anointeth her eyes therewith and so being not able to see doth the hunter take her If they lay shoos they are leaden ones too heavy for them to wear wherein are made such devises of gins that when once the Ape hath put them on they cannot be gotten off without the help of man So likewise for little bags made like breeches wherewithal they are deceived and taken They bring forth young ones for the most part by twins whereof they love the one and hate the other that which they love they bear in their armes the other hangeth at the damns back and for the most part she killeth that which she loveth by pressing it too hard afterward she setteth her whole delight upon the other The Egyptians when they describe a Father leaving his inheritance to his Son that he loveth not picture an Ape with her young one upon her back The male and female abide with the young one and if it want any thing the male with fist and ireful aspect punisheth the female When the Moon is in the wane they are heavie and sorrowful which in that kind have tails but they leap and rejoyce at the change for as other Beasts so do these fear the defect of the Stars and Planets They are full of dissimulation and imitation of man they readilyer follow the evill then the good they see They are very fierce by nature and yet tamed forget it but still remain subject to madness They love Conies very tenderly for in England an old Ape scarse able to go did defend tame Conies from the Weasel as Sir Thomas More reported They fear a shell fish and a Snail very greatly as appeareth by this History In Rome a certain Boy put a Snail in his hat and came to an Ape who as he was accustomed leaps upon his shoulder and took off his hat to kill Lice in his head but espying the Snail it was a wonder to see with what haste the Ape leaped from the Boys shoulder and in trembling manner looked back to see if the Snail followed him Also when a Snail was tied to the one end of another Apes chain so that he could not chuse but continually look upon it one cannot imagine how the Ape was tormented therewith finding no means to get from it cast up whatsoever was in his stomach and fell into a grievous Fever till it was removed from the Snail and refreshed with wine and water Gardane reporteth that it was an ancient custom in former time when a Parricide was executed he was after he was whipped with bloudy stripes put into a sack with a live Serpent a Dog an Ape and a Cock by the Serpent was signified his extreme malice to mankind in killing his Father by the Ape that in the likeness of man he was a Beast by the Dog how like a Dog he spared none no not his own Father and by a Cock his hateful pride and then were they all together hurl'd headlong into the Sea That he might be deemed unworthy of all the Elements of life and other blessings of nature A Lion ruleth the Beasts of the Earth and a Dolphin the Beasts of the Sea when the Dolphin is in age and sickness she recovereth by eating a Sea-ape and so the Lion by eating an Ape of the earth and therefore the Egyptians paint a Lion eating an Ape to signifie a sick man curing himself The heart of an Ape sod and dryed whereof the weight of a groat drunk in a draught of stale Hony sod in water called Melicraton strengthneth the heart emboldneth it and driveth away the pulse and pusillanimity thereof sharpeneth ones understanding and is soveraign against the salling evill The MUNKEY They are bred in the hils of Constance in the woods of Bugia and Mauritania In Aethiopia they have black heads hair like Asses and voices like to other In India they report that the Munkeys will clime the most steep and high rocks and fling stones at them that prosecute to take them When the King of Ioga in India for Religion goeth on Pilgrimage he carryeth with him very many Munkeys In like sort Munkeys are brought from the new found Lands from Calechut and Prasia and not far from Aden a City of Arabia is a most high hill abounding in these beasts who are a great hinderance to the poor vintagers of the Countrey of Calechut for they will climb into the high Palm trees and breaking the vessels set to receive the Wine pour forth that liquor they find in them they will eat hearbs and grain and ears of grasse going together in great flocks whereof one ever watcheth at the utmost bounds of their camp that he may cry out when the husbandman cometh and then all flying and leaping into the next trees escape away the females carry their young ones about with them on their shoulders and with that burden leap from tree to tree There be of this kind of Munkeys two sorts one greater the other lesser as is accounted in England and Munkeys are in like sort so divided that there be in all four kinds differing in bigness whereof the least is little bigger then a Squirrel and because of their marvellous and divers mowings movings voices and gestures the Englishmen call any man using such Histrionical Actours a Munkey The only difference betwixt these and other Apes aforesaid is their tail they differ from men in their nerves in the joints of their loynes and their processes and they want the third muscle moving the fingers of their hands Mammonets are lesse then an Ape brown on the back and white on the belly having a long and hairy tail his neck almost so big as his body for which cause they are tied by
will stand to the judgement of Hippocrates that women are more âot than men but if they be not so yet it must needs be acknowledged that the female Grashoppers are more hot than the male because under the midriffe they are not so divided but the males in that place were it not for that little membrane to hinder they might easily be blown through Nature certainly intended by denying a voice to the females of these Grashoppers to teach our women that lesson ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã what ornament silence brings to the female sex They begin first of all to sing about the latter end of the Spring the Sun being ãâã past the Meridian and perchance in hotter Countreys sooner where quickseâs or thickeâs are ãâã rare there they live more happily and sing more willingly For they are of all creatures the least melancholy and for that reason they do affect not only green and pleasant ãâ¦ã es but ãâ¦ã on and open fields Yea they are not to be found in those places where there are no trees at all nor where there are too many and too shady Hence it comes to passe saâtâ Arist that aâ Cyrene in none of the fields there is there any Grashoppers to be found whereas near the Town they are frequently heard They shun also cold places indeed they cannot live in them They love the Olive tree because of the thinness of the bough and narrowness of the leaves whereby they are lesse shady They never alter their place as neither doth the Stork or at least very seldome or if they do they are ever after silent they sing no more so much doth the love of their native soyl prevail with them In the Countrey of Miletus saith Pliny they are seldome seen In the Island Cepholenia there runs a River on the one side whereof there is plenty of them on the other in a manner none that which I should take to be the cause is either the want of trees or the too much abundance or else a certain natural antipathy of the soyl as Ireland neither brings forth not breeds any venomous creature for the same reasons they do not fancy the Kingdome of Naples although Niphus relates that to be done by the enchantment of one Maro Timaeus that writeth the History of Sicily reports that in the Countrey of Locris on the hither side of the River Helicis they are marvellous loud on the other side toward the city of Rhegium there is scarce one to be heard they are not therefore silent because Hercules prayed against them for disturbing him of his sleep as Solinus fabulously relates but because they are more merry and jocond at home as the Cock is whence it is that the Locrian Grashoppers will not sing at Rhegium nor theirs on the contrary near Locris and yet there is but a small river runs between them such a one as one may cast a stone over Much certainly doth their Countrey which comprehends in it all the love that may be move them where like the people of the Jewes they refuse to sing their native Songs in a strange Countrey who being cast out of their own habitation seek means to die rather than waies to live so prodigal seem they of their short life and desirous after their native dwelling They do so affect the company of men that unless they see fields full of Mowers or harvest folk and the waies with passengers they sing very low and seldome or silently and to themselves But if once they hear the reapers making merry talking and singing which is commonly at noon then they sing so loud as if they strove who should sing loudest together with them Wherefore not undeservedly was the Parasice in Athenaeus called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã who being naturally obstemious by nature yet was so full of talk as if he strove that no body should be heard at the table but he Socrates in his Phaedro recites the History of the Grashoppers very wittily warning men not to sleep in the heat of the day lest the Grashoppers mock them for the Poets report how their diligence was highly rewarded For they âay that the Grashoppers before the Muses were were men who afterwards when the Muses came taught them to sing but some of them were so delighted with musick and singing that altogether neglecting their meat and drink inconsiderately they perished the which afterwards being turned into Grashoppers the Muses gave them that for a reward that they should be able to live even in the heat of the day without meat or drink neither to have any need of bloud or moisture They couple and generate with creatures of the same kinde as Aristotle tels us and the male casts his seed into the female which she accordingly receives they bring forth in fallow grounds hollowing it with that sharp picked hollow part of their tail as the Bruchus doth and therefore there is great plenty of Grashoppers in the Countrey of Cyrene Also in reeds wherewith the vines are propped they make hollow a place for their nest and sometimes they breed in the stalk of the herb Squilla but this brood soon fals to the ground This is also worth the notice which Hugo Solerius writing upon Aetius affirmeth that the Grashoppers dye with bringing forth the ventricle of the female being rent asunder in the birth the which some being very much deceived therein do report of the Viper the which I exceedingly marvel at For they lay white eggs and do not bring forth a living creature as the field mouse doth unless it be by reason of weakness of the egge comes a little worm of that comes a creature like to the Aurelia of the Butterfly which is called Tettigometra at what time they are very delicate meat to be eaten before the shell be broken afterwards about the Solstices in the night come forth of that matrix the Grashoppers all black hard and somewhat big When they are thus got out those that are for the quicksets betake themselves thither those that live amongst the corn go and sit upon that at their departue they leave behinde them a little kinde of moisture not long after they are able to take wing and they begin to sing That therefore which Solerius feigneth concerning the bursting of the womb of the mother I should conceive to be understood of the matrixes A certain woman did bring up some young Grashoppers for her delight sake and to hear them sing which became with young without the help of the male if we may believe Arist 1. l. de hist anim but since he hath told us that all the females of Grashoppers are mute by nature and this spontaneous impregnation is far from truth either the woman deceived Aristotle or he us There is another kinde of Generation of Grashoppers that we read of For if clay be not dug up in due time it will breed Grashoppers so saith Paracelsus and before him Hesychius For this cause Plato saith
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 âinging 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 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 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 Iâidore 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 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 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 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 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 fânde 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