the heauen the fire of discord is kindled and groweth hot Neither may she abide by it and stand to the fight but being continually carried away she rolleth vp and down and as about the earth shee spreadeth and pitcheth her tents as it were with an vnmeasurable globe of the heauen so euer and anon of the clouds she frameth another skie And this is that region where the winds raigne And therefore their kingdome principally is there to be seene where they execute their forces and are the cause well neere of all other troubles in the aire For thunderbolts and flashing lightenings most men attribute to their violence Nay more than that therefore it is supposed that otherwhiles it raineth stones because they were taken vp first by the winde so as we may conclude that they cause many like impressions in the aire Wherefore many matters besides are to be treated of together CHAP. XXXIX ¶ Of ordinary and set seasons IT is manifest that of times and seasons as also of other things some causes be certaine others casuall and by chance or such as yet the reason thereof is vnknowne For who need to doubt that Summers and Winters and those alternatiue seasons which we obserue by yearely course are occasioned by the motion of the Planets As therefore the Sunnes nature is vnderstood by tempering and ordering the yeare so the rest of the starres and planets also haue euery one their proper and peculiar power and the same effectuall to shew and performe their owne nature Some are fruitfull to bring forth moisture that is turned into liquid raine others to yeeld an humour either congealed into frosts or gathered and thickened into snow or else frozen and hardened into haile some afford winds others warmth some hot and scorching vapours some dewes and others cold Neither yet ought these starres to be esteemed so little as they shew in sight seeing that none of them is lesse than the Moone as may appeare by the reason of their exceeding height Well then euery one in their own motion exercise their seuerall natures which appeareth manifestly by Saturne especially who setteth open the gates for raine and shoures to passe And not onely the seuen wandering starres be of this power but many of them also that are fixed in the firmament so often as they be either driuen by the excesse and approch of those planets or pricked and prouoked by the casting and influence of their beams like as we find it happeneth in the seuen stars called Suculae which the Grecians of raine name Hyades because they euer bring foule weather Howbeit some of their owne nature and at certaine set times do cause raine as the rising of the Kids As for Arcturus he neuer lightly appeareth without some tempestuous and stormie haile CHAP. XL. ¶ The power of the Dog-starre WHo knoweth not that when the Dogge-starre ariseth the heate of the Sunne is fiery and burning the effects of which starre are felt exceeding much vpon the earth The seas at his rising do rage and take on the wines in sellars are troubled pooles also and standing waters doe stirre and moue A wilde beast there is in Aegypt called Orix which the Aegyptians say doth stand full against the Dog-starre when it riseth looking wistly vpon it and testifieth after a sort by sneezing a kind of worship As for dogs no man doubteth verily but all the time of the canicular daies they are most ready to run mad CHAP. XLI ¶ That the stars haue their seuerall influences in sundry parts of the signes and at diuers times MOreouer the parts of certaine signes haue their peculiar force as appeareth in the Equinoctiall of Autumne and in mid-winter at what time we perceiue that the Sun maketh tempests And this is proued not onely by raines and stormes but by many experiments in mens bodies and accidents to plants in the countrey For some men are stricken by the Planet and blasted others are troubled and diseased at certaine times ordinarily in their belly sinewes head and minde The Oliue tree the Aspe or white Poplar and Willowes turne or wryth their leaues about at Mid-summer when the Sun entreth Cancer And contrariwise in very Mid-winter when he entreth Capricorne the herbe Penyroiall floureth fresh euen as it hangs within house drie and ready to wither At which time all parchments such like bladders or skinnes are so pent and stretched with spirit and wind that they burst withall A man might maruell hereat who marketh not by daily experience that one herbe called Heliotropium regardeth and looketh toward the Sun euer as he goeth turning with him at all houres notwithstanding he be shadowed vnder a cloud Now certaine it is that the bodies of Oysters Muskles Cocles and all shell fishes grow by the power of the Moone and thereby againe diminish yea and some haue found out by diligent search into Natures secrets that the fibres or filaments in the liuers of rats and mice answer in number to the daies of the Moones age also that the least creature of all others the Pismire feeleth the power of this Planet and alwaies in the change of the Moone ceaseth from worke Certes the more shame it is for man to be ignorant and vnskilfull especially seeing that he must confesse that some labouring beasts haue certaine diseases in their eyes which with the Moone do grow and decay Howbeit the excessiue greatnesse of the heauen and exceeding height thereof diuided as it is into 72 signes maketh for him and serueth for his excuse Now these signes are the resemblances of things or liuing creatures into which the skilfull Astronomers haue with good respect digested the firmament For example sake in the taile of Taurus there be seuen which they named in old time Vergiliae in the forehead other seuen called Suculae and Boötes who followeth after the wain or great Beare Septentriones CHAP. XLII ¶ The causes of raine showers winds and cloudes I Cannot denie but without these causes there arise raines and windes for that certaine it is how there is sent forth from the earth a mist sometimes moist otherwhiles smokie by reason of hot vapours and exhalations Also that clouds are ingendered by vapours which are gone vp on high or else of the aire gathered into a waterie liquour that they be thicke grosse and of a bodily consistence wee guesse and collect by no doubtful argument considering that they ouer-shadow the Sun which otherwise may be seene through the water as they know well that diue to any depth whatsoeuer CHAP. XLIII ¶ Of Thunder and Lightening DEnie I would not therefore but that the fierie impressions from stars aboue may fall vpon these clouds such as we oftentimes see to shoot in cleare and faire weather by the forceble stroke whereof good reason it is that the aire should be mightily shaken seeing that arrowes and darts when they are discharged sing and keepe a noise as they flie But when they incounter a cloud there arises
mutuall war between them after another sort and that the occasion thereof ariseth from a naturall cause for say they the Elephants bloud is exceeding cold and therefore the dragons be wonderful desirous thereof to refresh and coole themselues therewith during the parching hot season of the yeare And to this purpose they ly vnder the water waiting their time to take the Elephants at a vantage when they are drinking where they catch fast hold first of their trunke and they haue not so soone clasped and intangled it with their taile but they set their venomous teeth in the Elephants eare the onely part of all their body which they cannot reach vnto with their trunke and so bite it hard now these dragons are so big withal that they are able to receiue all the elephants bloud thus are they sucked dry vntill they fall down dead and the dragons also drunke with their bloud are squeesed vnder them and so dy together CHAP. XIII ¶ Of Dragons IN Aethyopia there be as great dragons bred as in India namely 20 cubits long but I maruell much at this one thing that king Iuba should think they are crested They are bred most in a countrey of Aethyopia where the Asachaei inhabit It is reported that vpon their coast they are inwrapped foure or fiue of them one within another like to a hurdle or lattise-worke and thus passe the seas to find out better pasturage in Arabia cutting the waues and bearing their heads aloft which serue them in stead of sailes CHAP. XIV ¶ Of monstrous great Serpents and namely of those called Boae MEgasthes writeth that there be serpents among the Indians growne to that bignesse that they are able to swallow stags or bulls all whole Metrodorus saith that about the riuer Rhyndacus in Pontus there be serpents that catch and deuoure the fowles of the aire be they neuer so swift winged and soare they neuer so high Well knowne it is that Attilius Regulus Generall vnder the Romans during the wars against the Carthaginians assailed a Serpent neere the riuer Bagrada which caried in length 120 foot and before hee could conquer him was driuen to discharge vpon him arrowes quarrels stones bullets and such like shot out of brakes slings and other engins of artillery as if he had giuen the assualt to some strong warlike towne the proofe whereof was to be seen by the marks remaining in his skin and chawes which vntill the war of Numantia remained in a temple or conspicuous place of Rome And this is the more credible for that we see in Italy other serpents named Boae so big and huge that in the daies of the Emperor Claudius there was one of them killed in the Vaticane within the belly whereof there was found an infant all whole This serpent liueth at the first of kines milk and thereof takes the name Boae As for other beasts which ordinarily of late are brought from all parts into Italy and oftentimes haue there been seen needlesse it is for me to describe their formes in particular curiously CHAP. XV. ¶ Of Scythian beasts and those which are bred in the North parts VEry few sauage beasts are ingendred in Scythia for want of trees pasturage Few likewise in Germany bordering vpon it Howbeit that countrâ—… bâ—…ings forth certaine kindes of goodly great wild boeufs to wit the Bisontes mained with a collar like Lions and the Vri a mighty strong beast and a swift which the ignorant people call Buffles whereas indeed the Buffle is bred in Africke and somewhat resembles a calfe rather or stag The Northerne regions bring forth wilde horses which there are found in great troups like as in Asia and in Africk there are to be seen wild Asses Moreouer a certain beast called the Alce very like to a horse but that his eares are longer and his necke also with two markes distinguishing them asunder Moreouer in the Island of Scandinavia there is a beast called Machlis not much vnlike the Alce aboue-named common he is there much talk we haue heard of him howbeit in these parts he was neuer seen He resembles I say the Alce but that he hath neither ioynt in the hough nor pasternes in his hind legs and therefore he neuer lieth downe but sleepeth leaning to a tree Wherefore the hunters that lie in wait for these beasts cut down the trees while they are asleepe and so take them otherwise they should neuer be taken they are so swift of foot that it is wonderfull Their vpper lip is exceeding great and therefore as they grase and feed they go retrograde lest if they went passant forward they should fold that lip double vnder their muzzle There is they say a wild beast in Paeonia called Bonasus with a maine like an horse otherwise resembling a bull mary his hornes bend so inward with their tips toward his head that they serue him in no stead at all for fight either to offend or defend himself and therefore all the helpe hee hath is in his good footmanship and otherwhiles in his flight by dunging which he will squirt out from behind him three acres in length This his ordure is so strong and hot that it burneth them that pursue him like fire if haply they touch it A strange thing it is and wonderfull that the Leopards Panthers Lions and such like beasts as they go draw in the points of their claws within their body as it were into sheaths because they should neither breake nor wax blunt but be alwaies keene and sharpe also that when they runne they should turne the hooked nailes of their pawes back and neuer stretch them forth at length but when they meane to assaile or strike any thing CHAP. XVI ¶ Of Lions THe Lions are then in their kind most strong and couragious when the haire of their main or collar is so long that it couereth both necke and shoulders And this comes to them at a certain age namely to those that are ingendred by Lions for such as haue Pards to their sires neuer haue this ornament no more than the Lionesse These Lionesses are very lecherous aad this is the cause that the Lions are so fell and cruell This Africke knowes best and sees most and especially in a great drought when for want of water a great number of wild beasts resort by troups to those few riuers that be there and meet together and hereupon it is that so many strange shaped beasts of a mixt and mungrell kind are there bred whiles the males either perforce or for pleasure leap and couer the females of all sorts From hence it is also that the Greeks haue this common prouerbe That Africke euermore brings forth some new and strange thing or other The Lion knoweth by sent and smell of the Pard when the Lionesse his mate hath played false and suffered her selfe to be couered by him and presently with all his might and maine runneth vpon her for to chastise and punish her And therefore
for who can looke for better when they are thus pined and famished He then whosoeuer he was that said Husbandmen were to wish for faire winters surely he was no friend therein to trees nor neuer praied for them neither are wet Mid-summers good for Vines But in truth That winter dust should cause plentiful haruest was a word spoken in a bravery and proceeding from a pregnant wit and jolly spirit for otherwise who knoweth not that euery man wishing well to trees and corn indifferently praieth that snow might lie long vpon the ground The reason is for that not only it keepeth in encloseth theâ—… vitall breath soule if I may so say of the earth ready to exhale out and vanish away yea and driueth it back again into the blade and root of corn redoubling therby the force and vigor thereof but also because it both yeeldeth moisture and liquor thereunto gently by little and little and the same withall fine pure and passing light considering that snow is nothing els but the fome or froth of rain-water from heauen This humor therefore not falling forcibly all at once to drown the root ne yet washing away the earth from it but distiling drop-meale a little at once in that proportion and measure as thirst requireth and calleth for it nourisheth all things as from a teat or pap nourisheth I say and neither drencheth nor ouerfloweth them The earth also for her part by this means wel soked swelleth and houeth as it were with a leauen and lieth thereby more light and mellow thus being full of juice and moisture it selfe not barren but well replenisht with seeds sown and plants suckled thus continually in her womb when the open time of the spring is once come to discharge her she sheweth her selfe fresh and gay and willingly entertaineth the warme weather of that season By this meanes especially we see how corne liketh well vpon the ground and thriueth apace euery where vnlesse it be in climates where the aire is alwaies hot as in Aegypt For continuance and ordinarie custome alone effecteth the same there which the season of the time moderat temperature of the aire elswhere And in one word be the place whatsoeuer passing good it is to keep away the thing that is hurtfull For in the most parts of the world it happeneth That when either corn is winter-proud or other plants put forth and bud too earely by reason of the mild and warm aire if there follow any cold weather vpon it all is nipped blasted and burnt away Which is the cause that late winters do harme vnto the wild trees also in the forrest The more paine and sorrow likewise such trees abide by reason of their owne thicke branches shading one another and not easily admitting the warme Sun and destitute they are besides of mans helping hand to cute them for growing as they do in wild and desart forrests impossible it is to lap and wrap them about with wreaths and thumb-ropes of straw and so to cherish and defend them when they be yong and tender Wel then to conclude this matter Winter raine principally is seasonable and good for all plants and next to it the dewes and showers that fal immediatly before their sprouting time a third sort also there be of showers that come when fruits hang on the tree and are in their growth yet not too soon namely before they bee strong and able to abide some hardnesse As touching trees which be late-ward and keep their fruit long ere they ripen such also as require store of nourishment and more food still as namely the Vine the Oliue Pomgranat trees it is good for them to be watered with raine in the later end of the yeare And to say a truth euery kind of tree requireth a seuerall rain by it selfe in due season sor that some ripen their fruit at one time and some at another so as a man shall see ordinarily the selfe same showers to hurt one sort and to help another yea and that diuers effect is to be seen in trees fruits of the same kind as for example in Pyrries for the late-ward of them call for raine at one time and the hasty or forward at another and yet indifferently all doe require alike the seasonable showers of winter as also those before budding time In which regard the winds Northeast are better than the Southern and such winters be most kindly Semblably by the same reason the Mediterranean or mid-land parts of any country are for this purpose preferred before the maritime or sea-coasts as being for most part colder the high hilly regions before the plaines and vallies and last of all the night rains are held to be more profitable than those that fall by day time for lands new sowne and any yong plants inioy more benefit by such shoures in the night for that the Sun commeth not so presently vpon them againe to dry and drink vp all the moisture Hereunto onght to be annexed the consideration of Vine-yards hort-yards and Groues as touching their scituation and namely what part of the heauen they should regard Virgil condemned altogether the planting of any trees respectiue to the West some haue chosen that quarter before the East And this haue I obserued that in most mens opinion the South is best But if I should speak what is mine own conceit indeed there can no generall and infallible rule be giuen concerning this point for to hold alwaies All our skil and art herein must be directed by the nature of the soile the disposition of the climat and temperature of the aire In Africke although it be nothing profitable for Vine-yards to be planted so as they look into the South yet kind it is wholesome for the Vine-planter and husband man by reason that all Africke lieth vnder the Meridionall oâ—… South climat And therefore he that shall set vines there either into the West or North howsoeuer Virgil alloweth not of the West shall make an excellent medley between the temperature of that aire and the nature of soile together As for the North no man seemeth to make any doubt or question but that vines so planted wil proue right well And verily there are not found any vines to prosper better or to beare more fruit in all Italy tha nin that tract which lieth on this side and vnder the Alpes and there for the most part the Vineyards are so planted Moreouer in this case the winds would be much considered for in Languedoc or the prouince of Narbone in Liguria and part of Tuscane they are reputed vnskilfull husbandmen that plant any vine-yards directly vpon the Northwest wind but it is counted contrariwise a special point of prouidence and good husbandry to cast it so as the said wind may flanke it on the side For this is the wind which in those quarters qualifies and tempereth the excessiue heat of the summer howbeit many times so violent and blusterous
put thereto certain pepper cornes and others drinke them in wine cuit that is sweet Fisticks are vsed in the same sort and haue the same operation and effects as the Pine-nut kernels haue ouer and aboue they are soueraigne for the sting of serpents whether they be eaten or taken in drinke Chestnuts be exceeding astringent and mightily stay all fluxes both of the stomack and the belly for such as scour ouermuch and haue a great lask vpon them also for them who reach vp bloud they be passing wholesome and withall nutritiue and breeding good fast flesh Carobs which be fresh and greene are hurtfull to the stomacke and doe loose the belly yet the same if they be dried do bind and are more wholsome for the stomacke diureticall they be also and prouoke vrine As for those Carobs or Cods of Syria some vse to seeth three of them in a sextar of water vntill halfe be consumed and drink that iuice or liquor thereof for the paine of the stomack If a man take the green twigs of a Corneil tree there will by the meanes of a red hot plate or slice of yron set vnto them sweat or fry out a certain liquid humor which must be receiued so as no wood touch it the rust of yron besmeared with this liquor cureth foul tettars and ringwormes called Lichnes if they be taken at the first before they haue run far The Arbut or Strawberry tree otherwise named Vnedo beareth a fruit hard of digestion and offensiue to the stomack The Lawrell both leafe bark and berry is by nature hot and therefore it is agreed among all writers That their decoction especially of the leaues is comfortable to the bladder and natural parts of women the same being applied as a liniment be singular good for the prick or sting of wasps hornets and bees and likewise against the poisons of serpents especially of the viper and Seps otherwise called Dipsas Boiled with oile they are good to bring down womens fleurs The tender leaues of the Bay stamped and mixed with grosse barly meale or groats cure the inflammations of the eies with Rue they help the hot tumors and swellings of the cods but incorporat with oile Rosat or with oile of Ireos or floure-de-lys they assuage the head-ach Whosoeuer doth chew and swallow downe three bay leaues for three daies together shall be deliuered by that means from the cough The same if they beaten to pouder reduced into an electuary or loch with hony are good for such as be pursie and labor for wind The bark or rind growing to the root is dangerous for women great with child and such must take heed how they meddlewith it The very root it selfe breaketh or dissolueth the stone and is wholsom for the liuer if it be taken to the weight of three oboli in odoriferous wine Bay leaues giuen to drink do prouoke vomit Bay berries bruised and so applied or otherwise pulverized and taken in drink draw down the issue of womens terms Take two Bay Berries rid or cleanse them from their huske and drinke them in wine it is a singular medicine for inueterate coughs the difficulty or straitnesse of breath when a man is forced to sit vpright for to fetch and deliuer his wind howbeit if the Patient be in a feuer it is better to take these berries in water or els by way of a loch or electuary after they haue bin sodden in honied water or sweet cuit And in this manner they be good in a phthisick or consumption of the lungs all catarrhs which fall to the pectorall parts for they ripen fleam and send it out of the chest Foure Bay berries drunk with wine are a good remedy for the sting of scorpions The same being brought to pouder and reduced into a liniment with oile so applied do heale the bloudy-fals called Epinyctides rid away freckles and pimples cure running scalls and vlcers cankers and sores in the mouth and clense the body of scurfe scals and dandruffe The juice drawn out of Bay berries killeth an itch that fretteth the skin besides the lice that crawle and swarm all ouer the body The same mingled with old wine and oile rosat and so dropped into the ears cureth their pain and deafnesse and whosoeuer be annointed all ouer therewith need feare no venomous things for they will flie from them The same iuice especially if it be drawn from the beries of that Lawrel which hath the smaller and thinner leaues may be taken in drink and so it is effectuall against all stings The berries drunk in wine withstand the venom of serpents scorpions and spiders Brought into a liniment with oile and vineger and so applied they help the spleen and liuer but with hony they heale gangrens Such as be wearied with trauel or otherwise stiffe and benummed with cold find much good by being annointed with the said liniment or iuice if some sal-nitre be put thereto Some are of opinion That if a woman in labor drink the quantity of one acetable of the Lawrell root in water shee shall haue the more speedy deliuerance and for this purpose they say that a fresh and green root is better than a dry Others prescribe to giue in drink ten bay berries against the prick of scorpions Also when the Vvula is falne some giue counsell to take three ounces of the leaues and berries and seeth them in three sextars of water to the thirds to gargarize with this decoction hot also for the head-ach to take some odde number of bay berries and stamp them with oile into a liniment therwith to annoint the fore-head temples as hot as the patient can well abide it The leaues of the Delphick Lawrel beaten to pouder and held to the nose and smelled vnto euer and anon serue for a good preseruatiue in time of the contagious pestilence and the rather if they be burnt their persume doth rectifie the infection of the aire The oile of the said baies of the Isle Delphos is good for to make those cerots which put away lassitude wearinesse to discusse resolue the cold humors which cause quiuering and quaking to moliifie and stretch the sinews to allay the pain of the sides in a pleurisie and last of all to driue away the cold fits of agues Semblably if the same be warmed in the rind of a Pomgranat instilled into the ears it eases their pain the leaues boiled in water to the consumption of a third part keepe vp the Vvula vsed by way of a gargarisme but the said decoction taken inwardly allaieth the pains of belly and guts the tendrest leaues that may be had stampt with wine into a liniment do represse keep down wheals and itching if the body be annointed therwith euery night Next vnto this the other kinds are to be ranged according to the validitie of their operation As for the Lawrell Alexandrica or Idaea if a woman in trauell of child-birth take
all the corne vpon the ground The like also fell as often in Egypt for the rain that fel caused all the washes arising from the riuer Nilus which watred the grounds to be bitter whereupon insued a great plague and pestilence to the whole region It chanceth many times that presently vpon the cutting and stocking vp of Woods there arise and spring certaine fountaines which beforetime appeared not but were spent in the nourishment of the tree roots as it fell out in the mountain Haemus when as Cassander held the Gallogreeks besieged for when the woods thereupon were cut down to make a palaisad for a rampier presently there issued forth springs of water in their place Moreouer it hath bin oft times known that by occasion of spoiling some hils of the wood growing therupon the springs haue met altogether in one streame and done much hurt in sudden ouerflowing the vaile beneath whereas the trees before-time had wont to drink vp digest and consume all the moisture wet that fell and fed the said waters And verily it auaileth much for the maintenance of water to stirre with the plough and to till a ground thereby to break vp and loose the vppermost callositie and hide as it were of the earth that kept it clunged and bound Certes it is recorded for a truth that vpon the rasing and destroying of Arcadia a towne so called in Creet wherby the place was dispeopled all the fountaines waxed dry and the riuers in that tract which were many came to nothing but six yeares after when the said town was re-edified euen as the inhabitants fell to earing and ploughing any grounds within their territorie the foresaid fountains appeared again and the riuers returned to their former course CHAP. V. ¶ Divers historicall obseruations touching this point MOreouer Earthquakes as they discouer sometimes new springs and sources of water so otherwhiles they swallow them vp that they are no more seene like as it hapned as it is well knowne 5 times about the riuer Pheneus in Arcadia And in manner abouesayd there issued forth a riuer out of the mountaine Corycus so soone as the peisants of the country began to break it vp for tillage But to return again to the change and alteration of waters wonderfull they must needs be no doubt when there is no euident cause thereof to be knowne as namely in Magnesia where al the hot waters of the bains suddenly became cold without any other change besides of the tast also in Caria where standeth the temple of Neptune the riuer which was knowne before to be fresh and potable all on a sudden turned into salt water Ouer and besides is not this a strange miracle that the fountain Arethusa in Syracuse should haue a sent or smell of dung during the solemne games and exercises at Olympia But there is some probable reason to be rendred hereof Because the riuer Alpheus passeth from Olympus vnder the very bottom of the sea into that Island of Sicily where Syracuse standeth and so commeth to the foresaid fountain The Rhodians haue a fountain within their Chersonese which euery ninth yere purgeth it self sends out an infinit deale of ordure and filthines And as the tast smell of waters do alter so their colours also do change as for example there is a lake in the country of Babylon which euery summer for the space of 11 daies looketh red and Borysthenes also in the summer time runneth with a blewish colour like violets or the sky and yet a most pure and subtill water it is of all other which is the reason that it swims aloft and floteth naturally vpon Hypanis the riuer In which two riuers there is another maruell reported That all the while a Southern wind bloweth the riuer Hypanis is discerned aboue it But there is one argument more besides that proueth the water of Borysthenes to be passing light thin for that there arise no mists out of it nay it is not perceiued to yeeld any exhalation or breath at al from it To conclude they that would seem to be curious and skilfull in these matters do obserue and affirme That generally all waters grow to be heauier after that mid-winter is once past CHAP. VI. ¶ The maner of water-conduits How and when those waters which naturally are medicinable ought to be vsed Also for what diseases it is good to saite and take the aire of the Sea The vertues and properties of sea waters as touching Physicke IF a man would convey water from any head of a spring the best way is to vse pipes of earth made by potters art and the same ought to be 2 fingers thick and one jointed within another so as the end of the vpper pipes enter into the nether as a tenon into a mortaise or as a box into the lid the same ought to be vnited and laid euen with quicklime quenched and dissolued in oile The least leuell for to carry and command water vp hill from the receit is one hundred foot but if it be conueyed but by one canel and no more it may be forced to mount the space of two Actus i. 240 foot As touching the pipes by means whereof the water is to rise aloft they ought to be of lead Furthermore this is to be obserued That the water ascend alwaies of it self at the deliuerie to the heigth of the head from whence it gaue receit if it bee fetched a long way the worke must rise and fall often in the carriage thereof that the leuell may bee maintained still As for the pipes ten foot long apiece they would bee if you do well Now if the said pipes of lead be but fiue fingers in compasse ordinarily they should weigh sixty pound if they be of eight fingers size they must carry the weight of one hundred pound but in case they bear a round of 10 fingers their poise would be at the least 120 pound and so the rest more or lesse according to this proportion Those pipes be called properly in Latine Denariae the web or sheet whereof beareth ten fingers in breadth before it be turned in and brought to the compasse of a pipe like as Quinariae when the same is halfe so broad Moreouer this is to be obserued That in euery turning and twining of an hill the pipe ought of necessity to be fiue fingers round and no more for to represse and breake the violence of the water in the current Likewise the vaulted heads which receiue and contain water from all the sources meeting together musâ—… be of that capacity as need requireth And since I am falne into the treatise and discourse of fountains I wonder much at Homer that he hath made no mention at all of hot springs and yet otherwise throughout his whole poëme hee bringeth in oftentimes those who bathed and washed in hot baines But it may verie wel be that the reason therof is because in those times
301. b. 306. k. 309. d. f 313. e. 322. l. 350. h. 362. l. 363. a. b. c. 418. i. 422. h 434. h. 443. c. 516. g. a man bitten by a mad Dogge cured by reuelation from the gods 212. g the biting of a mad Dogge incurable if Hydrophobie ensue thereupon 211. f how Doggs may be preserued from running mad 308. h 363. a. a brasen Dog in Iunoes chappell 494. m. with what charge it was kept ibid. Dog-fish medicinable 440. g Dog-berrie tree how it preserueth hearbes from any vermine 32. m Dolphin fish yeeldeth ashes medicinable 440. g. the liuer good in Physicke ibid. Dolphins peeces of siluer plate which C. Gracchus had 482. h. Donaces be the male of shell-fishes 444. h Donax a cane in Cypros medicinable 191. c. 450. i Dora why gifts are so called in Greeke 555. d Doris what hearbe 124. m Doron what measure it is in Greeke 555. d Dorotheus a Poet and writer in Physicke 131. f Dorycnium the poysonous Dwale 112 k. why so called ib. the counterpoyson thereof 150. m. 308. g. what remedies more be appropriat for that poyson 308. g. 318. h 436 h. i. 443. b. Dorypetron an hearbe See Leontopodium Doryphorus an image of Polycletus his making 497. e Doryphori Images in brasse resembling the guard of King Darius 501. e Doues foot an hearbe See Geranium D R Draconites or Dracontia a pretious stone 626. i Dracontium an hearbe 200 h. whether it be the same that Dracunculus ibid. the medicinable vertues of the herbe Dragon whether it be Dracontium or Dracunculus 201 b c. three kindes of Dracontium ibid. t differs from Aron ibid. how it tooke the name ib. Dracunculus the herbe of two sorts different one from the other 212 h. one kinde sheweth aboue ground andretireth backe againe according as serpents appeare aboue the earth or be hidden ibid. Dragons an bearbe See Dracontium and Dracunculus sea-Dragon a venomous fish 246. k. the remedies against the pricke and poison thereof 246. k. 277. c 418. i. 433. f. 434. h. i. sea-Dragon medicinable for the hurt that himselfe hath done 434. i Dragons haue no venome within them 357. a. their greace driueth away all venomous beasts 357. d Dragons See serpents Dram Atticke what it doth peise 113. e for to Draw forth of the flesh spils shiuers bones thornes arrow heads and such like proper remedies 44. k. 56. g. h 71. f. 76. k. 103. d. 105. d. 108. l. 119. d. 122. l. 135. d 144. k. l. 149. f. 150. i. 167. a. 168. l. 191. d. 195. e 206. g. 262 i. 264. m. 365. a. d. 266. g. 283. d. 291. c 306. i. 338. m. 371. a. 394. l. 395. a. b. 447. d. e. 450. k 511. b. to Draw skalie bones out of the skull 233. b. d Dreames fearefull and troublesome what do cause 251. a 315. e. meanes to auoid them 65. e. 315. c. when and how we dreame most 303. e Drinking of cold water more wholesome than of hot drinks 304. g. Drinking of waters naturally hot ouer liberally hurtfull 412. h. where drought maketh durt and raine dust 410 i. for the Dropsie diuers remedies 36 l. 39 d. 40 k. 42 k. 43. b 44 g. 45 b. f. 51 f. 55 c. 57. d. 64 k. 66 k. 69 e. 74 h 77 c. 101 d. 104 i l. 106 g k. 109 b. 110 m. 119 d 124 g. 127 e. 128 k. 134 k. 142 l. 148 g. 149. b 164 g. 166 h. 167 e. 174 l. 181 c. 182 g. 184 l m 186 g. 187 c. 190 g. 191 c. 192 h. 198 i. 203 e. 218 i k 219 d. 252 g. 253 c. 260 l. 261 a. 273 b. 276 h. 283â—… f 284 i. 287 e. 290 k. 336 l m. 362 i. 391 e. 414 h. 419 e 422 i. 443 a. 446 i. 508 g. Drosse of brasse 507. c against Drowsinesse remedies 74. h. 206 g. 218 l. 260 l 336 h. 446 i k. Drowsinesse what doth engender 101. e Drowsinesse occasioned by the venome of the Aspis how cured 356 i the druidae together with Physicians Prophets and Wisards put downe by Tiberius Caesar 374. g the Druidae of France tell wonders of the serpents egge Anguinum 354. g Drunkennesse what meanes to withstand 43 b. 49 c. 57 d 103 e. 105 a d. 119 d. 153 b. 171. f. 190 g. 201 b. 259 c. 342 g. what things cause loathing of drunkennesse and wine 399 c. 626 h. 450 g. Drunkards why they drinke pumish stone before they sit downe to quaffe wine 591. d Drusillanus Rotundus his vanitie and wast in a siluer charger 481. e Drusus cured of the falling sickenesse by purging with Ellebore in the Isle Anticyra 218. g Dryites a pretious stone 630. k Dryophonon 280. m. the description ibid. Dryopteris 280. l D V Duckes-meat an hearbe 142 h. the medicinable vertues thereof ibid. Duckes and Mallards bloud bred in Pontus medicinable 364 g. C. Duillius his statue erected vpon a Columne at Rome 491 a. Dumbenesse comming suddenly how cured 42. h Duris a writer 498. m Duo the bare word a charme for Scorpions 297. c D W Dwale a poysonous hearbe See Dorycnium D Y Dyed colours which be the richest 88 l Dying cloth and wooll with the iuice of hearbes 114. m 123 c. Dyars craft 115. c Dysenterie or vlcer of the guts how cured 66 i. 73 a. 126. g 129 a. 137 b. 140 i. 141 f. 153 f. 318 g. 382 k. 418 k 474 h. 520 i. 557 e. See Bloudie flix E A for EAres pained within conuenient remedies 38 g. 42. g 44 g. 54 d. 57 e. 60. g. 62 m. 66 g. 68 h. 70 l. 102 i 103 d. 106 m. 131 d. 135 e. 140 g. 157 b. 161 e 162 h. k 169 c f. 172 h i. 173 c. f. 183. f. 185 a. 188 l 189 f. 196 h. 200. l. 237. f. 238 g. 277 c. 307 e. 325 d 326 c. 369 b c e. 418 k. 439 e. 439 f. Eares exulcerat sore within and running with attir how to be clensed and healed 120 l. 160 h. 165 b. 174 m 180 g. 181 a. 183 a c. 189 f. 197 d. 216 h. 238. g 277. c. 287. b. 306. h. 325. d. 326 g. 350. i. 369. b. d. 370. g i. 418. k. 431. c. 432. h. 422. g. 432. k. for Eares deafe or hard of hearing good medicines 36. h 42. g. m. 44. g. 49. b. 54. h. 56. i. 57. e. 63. e. 75. c. 111. a 128. i. 149. a. 156. m. 157. b. 159. c. 161. b. d. 162 h 165. a. 173. c 325. e. f. 326. g. 369. b. 507. f. 511. c. comfortable things for the Eares in all infirmities 131. d 160. m. 161. b. 178. g. 186. m. 249. e. 259. c. 273. a. 274. i 303. e. 307. e. 356. h. 369. d. 370. k. 371. a. 439. d. e. 558. l 559. b. 609. b. for Eares ringing and singing or hauing in them any vnnaturall sound and noise 43. a. 47. b. 57. e. 62. h. 135. c 161. b. 162. h. 180. m. 308. h. 510. i. Eares
the Elements 6. Of the seuen Planets 7. Concerning God 8. The nature of the fixed starres and Planets their course and reuolution 9. The nature of the Moone 10. The eclipse of Sun and Moone also of the night 11. The bignesse of starres 12. Diuerse inuentions of men and their obseruations touching the coelestiall bodies 13. Of Eclipses 14. The motion of the Moone 15. Generall rules or canons touching planets or lights 16. The reason why the same planets seeme higher or lower at sundry times 17. Generall rules concerning the planets or wandring stars 18. What is the cause that planets change their colours 19. The course of the Sunne his motion and from whence proceedeth the inequalitie of daies 20. Why lightenings be assigned to Iupiter 21. The distances betweene the planets 22. The harmonie of stars and planets 23. The geometrie and dimensions of the world 24. Of stars appearing sodainly 25. Of comets or blasing stars and other prodigious appearances in the skie their nature situation and sundry kinds 26. The opinion of Hipparchus the Philosopher as touching the stars fire-lights lamps pillars or beames of fire burning darts gapings of the skie and other such impressions by way of example 27. Strange colours appearing in the firmament 28. Flames and leams seene in the skie 29. Circles of guirlands shewing aboue 30. Of coelestiall circles and guirlands that continue not but soone passe 31. Of many Suns 32. Of many Moones 33. Of nights as light as day 34. Of meteors resembling fierie targuets 35. Astrange and wonderfull apparition in the skie 36. The extraordinarie shooting and motion of stars 37. Of the stars named Castor and Pollux 38. Of the Aire 39. Of certaine set times and seasons 40. The power of the Dog-star 41. The sundrie influences of stars according to the seasons and degrees of the signes 42. The causes of raine wind and clouds 43. Of thunder and lightning 44. Whereupon commeth the redoubling of the voice called Echo 45. Of winds againe 46. Diuerse considerations obserued in the nature of winds 37. Many sorts of winds 48. Of sodaine blasts and whirle-puffs 49. Other strange kinds of tempests storms 50. In what regions there fall thunderbolts 51. Diuers sorts of lightnings and wonderous accidents by them occasioned 52. The obseruations of the Tuscanes in old time as touching lightening 53. Conjuring for to raise lightning 54. Generall rules concerning leames and flashes of lightning 55. What things be exempt and secured from lightning and thunderbolts 56. Of monstrous and prodigious showres of raine namely of milke bloud flesh yron wooll bricke and tyle 57. The rattling of harnesse and armour the sóund also of trumpets heard from heauen 58. Of stones falling from heauen 59. Of the Rain-bow 60. Of Haile Snow frost Mists and Dew 61. Of diuers formes and shapes represented in clouds 62. The particular propertie of the skie in certaine places 63. The nature of the Earth 64. The forme and figure of the earth 65. Of the Antipodes and whether there bee any such Also as touching the roundnesse of the water 66. How the water resteth vpon the Earth 67. Of Seas and riuers nauigable 68. What parts of the earth be habitable 69. That the earth is in the mids of the world 70. From whence proceedeth the inequalitie obserued in the rising and eleuation of the stars Of the eclipse where it is wherfore 71. The reason of the day-light vpon earth 72. A discourse thereof according to the Gnomon also of the first Sun-dyall 73. In what places and at what times there are no shadows cast 74. Where the shadows fall opposite and contrary twice in the yeare 75. Where the dayes bee longest and where shortest 76. Likewise of Dyals and Quadrants 77. The diuers obseruations and acceptations of the day 78. The diuersities of regions and the reason thereof 79. Of Earthquakes 80. Of the chinks and openinst of the earth 81. Signes of earthquake toward 82. Remedies and helps againg eatthquakes comming 83. Strange and prodigious wonders seen one time in the earth 84. Miraculous accidents as touching earthquake 85. In what parts the seas went backe 86. Islands appearing new out of the sea 87. What Islands haue thus shewed and at what times 88. Into what lands the seas haue broken perforce 89. What Islands haue bin ioyned to the continent 90. What lands haue perished by water and become all sea 91. Of lands that haue settled and beene swallowed vp of themselues 92. What cities haue beene ouerflowed and drowned by the sea 93. Wonderfull strange things as touching some lands 94. Of certaine lands that alwaies suffer earthquake 95. Of Islands that flote continually 96. In what countries of the world it never raineth also of many miracles as well of the earth as other elements hudled vp pell mell together 97. The reason of the Sea-tides as well ebbing as flowing and where the sea floweth extraordinarily 98. Wonderfull things obserued in the sea 99. The power of the Moone ouer Sea and land 100. The power of the Sun and the reason why the sea is salt 101. Moreouer as touching the nature of the Moone 102. Where the sea is deepest 103. Admirable obseruations in fresh waters as well of fountaines as riuers 104. Admirable things as touching fire and water ioyntly together also of Maltha 105. Of Naphtha 106. Of certaine places that burne continually 107. Wonders of fire alone 108. The dimension of the earth as well in length as in breadth 109. The harmonicall circuit ond circumference of the world In sum there are tn this boooke of histories notable matters and worthy obseruations foure hundred and eighteene in number Latine Authours cited M. Varro Sulpitius Gallus Tiberius Caesar Emperour Q. Tubero Tullius Tiro L. Piso T. Livius Cornelius Nepos Statius Sebosus Casius Antipater Fabianus Antias Mutianus Cecina who wrote of the Tuscane learning Tarquitius L. Aquila and Sergius Paulus Forreine Authours cited Plato Hipparchus Timaeus Sosigenes Petosiris Necepsus the Pythagoreans Posidonius Anaximander Epigenes Gnomonicus Euclides Ceranus the Philosopher Eudoxus Democritus Crâ—…sodemus Thrasillus Serapion Dicearchus Archimedes Onesicritus Eratosthenes Pytheas Herodotus Aristotle Ctesius Artemidorus the Ephesian Isidorus Characenus and Theopompus ¶ IN THE THIRD BOOKE ARE COMPREHENded the Regions Nations Seas Townes Hauens Mountains Riuers with their measures and people either at this day known or in times past as followeth Chap. 1. Of Europe 2. The length and breadth of Boetica a part of Spaine containing Andalusia and the realme of Grenado 3. That hither part of Spaine called of the Romans Hispania Citerior 4. The Prouince Nerbonencis wherin is Dauphine Languedoc and Provance 5. Italie Tiberis Rome and Campaine 6. The Island Corsica 7. Sardinia 8. Sicilie 9. Lipara 10. Of Locri and the frontiers of Italie 11. The second gulfe of Europe 12. The fourth region of Italie 13. The fifth region 14. The sixth region 15. The eighth region 16. Of the riuer Po. 17. Of Italie beyond the Po counted the eleuenth
them haue other greater circuits of full reuolution which are to be spoken of in the discourse of the great yeare CHAP. IX ¶ Of the Moones nature BVt the Planet of the Moone being the last of all most familiar with the earrh and deuised by Nature for the remedie of darknesse out-goeth the admiration of all the rest She with her winding and turning in many and sundry shapes hath troubled much the wits of the beholders fretting and fuming that of this starre being the neerest of all they should be most ignorant growing as it doth or else waining euermore One while bended pointwise into tips of hornes another whiles diuided iust in the halfe and anon againe in compasse round spotted sometime and darke and soone after on a sudden exceeding bright one while big and full and another while all at once nothing to bee seene Sometime shining all night long and otherwhiles late it is ere she riseth shee also helpeth the Sunnes light some part of the day eclipsed and yet in that eclipse to be seene The same at the moneths end lieth hidden at what time it is supposed shee laboureth and trauelleth not At one time yee shall see her below and anon aloft and that not after one manner but one while reaching vp close to the highest heauen and another while ready to touch the mountains sometimes mounted on high into the North and sometime cast down below into the South Which seuerall constitutions and motions in her the first man that obserued was Endymeon and thereupon the voice went That he was enamoured vpon the Moone Certes thankfull we are not as we ought to be vnto those who by their trauell and carefull endeuour haue giuen vs light in this light But delighted rather we are wonderously such is the pestilent wit and wicked disposition of man to record in Chronicles bloud shed and murders that lewd acts and mischieuous deeds should be knowne of them who otherwise are ignorant of the world it selfe Well to proceed the Moon being next to the Centre and therfore of least compasse performes the same course and circuit in seuen and twentie daies and one third part of a day which Saturne the highest planet runnes as we said before in thirty yeres After this making stay in coniunction with the Sun two daies forth she goes and by the thirtieth day at the most returneth to the same point and ministery againe the mistresse if I may so say and the teacher of all things Astronomicall that may be known in heauen Now by her meanes are we taught that the yeere ought to be diuided into twelue moneths for as much as the Moone meeteth or ouertaketh the Sun so many times before he returneth to the same point where he began his course Likewise that shee loseth her light as the rest of the planets by the brightnes of the Sun when she approcheth neere For borrowing wholly of him her light shee doth shine much like to that which we see glittering and flying too and fro in the reflection and reuerberation of the Sun-beames from the water And hereupon it is that she by her more mild and vnperfect power dissolueth yea and increaseth so great moisture as she doth which the sun beames may consume Hence it comes also that her light is not euen and equall in sight because then only when she is opposite vnto the Sunne she appeareth full but all other daies she sheweth no more to vs here on earth than she conceiueth light of the Sunne In time verily of coniunction or change she is not seene at all for that whiles she is turned away all the draught of light she casteth thither backe againe from whence she receiued it Now that these planets are fed doubtles with earthly moisture it is euident by the Moone which so long as she appeareth by the halfe in sight neuer sheweth any spots because as yet shee hath not her full power of light sufficient to draw humour vnto her For these spots be nothing else but the dregs of the earth caught vp with other moisture among the vapors CHAP. X. ¶ Of the Sunne and Moones eclipse and of the Night MOreouer the eclipse of the Moone and Sunne a thing throughout the vniuersall contemplation of Nature most maruellous and like a strange and prodigious wonder doth shew the bignesse and shadow of these two planets For euident it is that the Sunne is hidden by the comming betweene of the Moone and the Moone againe by the opposition of the Earth also that the one doth quit the other in that the Moone by her interposition bereaueth the Earth of the Sunnes raies and the earth againe doth the semblable by the Moone Neither is the Night any thing else but the shade of the Earth Now the figure of this shadow resembleth a pyramis pointed foreward or a top turned vp side downe namely when as it falleth vpon it with the sharpe end thereof nor goeth beyond the heights of the Moone for that no other starre is in that manner darkened and such a figure as it alwaies endeth point-wise And verily that shadowes grow to nothing in great space of distance appeareth by the exceeding high flight of some foules So as the confines of these shadowes is the vtmost bound of the aire and the beginning of the fire Aboue the Moone all is pure and light some continually And we in the night doe see the starres as candles or any other lights from out of darkenesse For these causes also the Moone in the night season is eclipsed onely But the reason why the Sun and Moone are not both in the eclipse ta set times and monethly is the winding obliquitie of the Zodiake and the wandering turnings of the Moone one while farre South and another while as much North as hath been said and for that these planets do not alwaies in their motion meet just in the points of the eclipticke line to wit in the head or taile of the Dragon CHAP. XI ¶ Of the magnitude of Starres THe reason of this lifteth vp mens mindes into heauen and as if they beheld and looked downe from thence discouer vnto them the magnitude of the three greatest parts of the whole world For the Sunnes light could not wholly be taken away from the earth by the Moone comming betweene in case the earth were bigger than the Moone But the huge greatnesse of the Sunne is more certainely knowne both by the shadow of the Earth and the bodie of the Moone so as it is needlesse to search and inquire into the largenesse thereof either by proofe of eie-sight or by coniecture of the minde How vnmeasurable it is appeareth euidently by this That trees which are planted in limits from East to West casteth shadowes equall in proportion albeit they be neuer so many miles assunder in length as if the Sunne were in the middest of them all This appeareth also about the time of the equinoctiall in all regions meridionall when the Sunne shineth
the tips of her hornes turned from the Sun toward the East but in the waine contrariwise Westward Also that she shines the first day of her apparition ¼ parts and the foure and twentieth part of an houre and so riseth in proportion the second day forward vnto the full and likewise decreaseth in the same manner to the change But alwaies she is hidden in the change within fourteene degrees of the Sunne By which argument we collect that the magnitude of the other Planets is greater than that of the Moone for so much as they appeare otherwhiles when they be but seuen degrees off But the cause why they shew lesse is their altitude like as also the fixed starres which bv reason of the brightnesse of the Sunne are not seene in the day time whereas indeed they shine as clearely by day as by night And that is manifestly proued by some eclipses of the Sun and exceeding deepe pits for so they are to be seene by day light CHAP. XV. ¶ Generall rules touching the motions and lights of other Planets THose three which we say are aboue the Sun be hidden when they goe their course together with him They arise in the morning and be called Orientall Matutine and neuer depart farther than eleuen degrees But afterwards meeting with his raies and beames they are couered and in their triple aspect retrograde they make their morning station a hundred and twenty degrees off which are called the first and anon in a contrarie aspect or opposition 180 degrees off they arise in the euening and are Occidentall Vespertine In like sort approching from another side within an hundred and twenty degrees they make their euening stations which also they call the second vntill he ouertake them within twelue degrees and so hide them and these are called the euening settings As for Mars as he is neerer vnto the Sun so feeleth he the Sun beames by a quadrant aspect to wit ninetie degrees whereupon that motion tooke the name called the first and second Nonagenarie from both risings The same planet keepeth his stationarie residence six moneths in the signes whereas otherwise of his owne nature but two moneths But the other planets in both stations or houses continue not all out foure moneths apiece Now the other two inferiour planets vnder the Sun go downe and are hidden after the same manner in the euening Coniunction and in as many degrees they make their morning rising and from the farthest bounds of their distance they follow the Sun and after they haue once ouertaken him they set againe in the morning and so out-go him And anon keeping the same distance in the euening they arise againe vnto the same limits which we named before from whence they are retrograde and return to the Sun and by the euening setting they be hidden As for Venus she likewise maketh two stations according to the two manners of her apparance morning and euening when she is in farthest bounds and vtmost points of her Epicycle But Mercurie keepeth his stations so small a while that they cannot be obserued This is the manner and order as well of the lights and appearances of the planets as of their occultations and keeping close intricate in their motion and enfolded within many strange wonders For change they do their magnitudes and colours sometime they approch into the North the same againe go backe toward the South yea and all on a sudden they appeare one while neerer to the earth and another while to the heauen wherein if we shall deliuer many points otherwise than former Writers yet confesse we do that for these matters we are beholden vnto them who first made demonstration of seeking out the wayes thereto howbeit let no man dispaire but that hee may profit and goe forward alwaies in further knowledge from age to age For these strange motions fall out vpon many causes The first is by reason of those eccentrique circles or Epicycles in the stars which the Greekes call Absides for needs we must vse in this treatise the Greeke termes Now euery one of the planets haue particular Auges or circles aforesaid by themselues and these different from those of the starry heauen for that the earth from those two points which they call Poles is the very centre of the heauen as also of the Zodiacke scituate ouerthwart betweene them All which things are certainly knowne to be so by the compasse that neuer can lie And therefore for euery centre there arise their owne Absides whereupon it is that they haue diuerscircuits and different motions because necessarie it is that the inward and inferiour Absides should be shorter CHAP. XVI ¶ Why the same Planets seeme sometime higher and some lower THe highest Absides therefore from the centre of the earth are of Saturne in the signe Scorpio of Iupiter in Virgo of Mars in Leo of the Sun in Gemini of Venus in Sagittarius of Mercury in Capricorne and namely in the middle or fifteenth degree of the said signes and contrariwise the said planets in the same degrees of the opposite signes are lowest and to the centre of the earth neerest So it commeth to passe that they seeme to moue more slowly when they goe their highest circuit not for that naturall motions doe either hasten or slacke which be certaine and seuerall to euery one but because the lines which are drawne from the top of the Absis must needs grow narrow and neere together about the centre as the spokes in cart wheeles and the same motion by reason of the neerenesse of the centre seemeth in one place greater in another lesse The other cause of their sublimities is for that in other signes they haue the Absides eleuated highest from the cen tre of their own eccentrique circles Thus Saturne is in the height of his Auge in the 20. degree of Libra Iupiâ—…er in the 15. of Cancer Mars in the 28. of Capricorne the Sunne in the 29. of Aries Vâ—…nus in the 16. of Pisces Mercurie in the 15. of Virgo and the Moone in the 4. of Taurus The third reason of their altitude or eleuation is not taken from their Auges or circles accentrique but vnderstood by the measure and conuexitie of heauen for that these planets seeme to the eie as they rise and fall to mount vp or settle downward through the aire Hereunto is knit and vnited another cause also to wit the Zodiaks obliquitie latitude of the planets in regard of the eclipticke For through it the starres which we called wandering do moue and take their course Neither is there any place inhabited vpon earth but that which lieth vnder it For al the rest without the poles are fruitles desart and ill fauoured Only the planet Venus goeth beyond the circle of the Zodiake 2. degrees which is supposed to be the very efficient cause that certaine liuing creatures are ingendred and bred euen in the desart and vnhabitable parts of the world The Moone likewise
a vapor with a dissonant sound like as when a red hot yron maketh an hissing being thrust into water a smokie fume walmeth vp with many turnings like waues Hereupon stormes do breed And if this flatuositie or vapour doe struggle and wrestle within the cloud from thence it commeth that thunderclaps be heard but if it breake through still burning then flieth out the thunderbolt if it be longer time a strugling and cannot pierce through then leams and flashes are seene With these the cloud is clouen with the other burst in sunder Moreouer thunders are nothing els but the blows and thumps giuen by the fires beating hard vpon the clouds and therefore presently the firy chinkes and rifts of those clouds do glitter and shine Possible it is also that the breath and winde eleuated from the earth being repelled back and kept downe by the stars so held in and restrained within a cloud may thunder whiles Nature choketh the rumbling sound all the while it striueth and quarelleth but sendeth forth a crack when it breaketh out as we see in a bladder puffed vp with winde Likewise it may be that the same wind or spirit whatsoeuer is set on fire by fretting and rubbing as it violently passeth headlong downe It may also be stricken by the conflict of two clouds as if two stones hit one against another and so the leams and flashes sparkle forth so as all these accidents happen by chance-medley and be irregular And hereupon come those bruitish vain lightenings such as haue no natural reason but are occasioned by these impressions aboue said With these are mountains and seas smitten and of this kind be all other blasts and bolts that do no hurt to liuing creatures As for those that come from aboue and of ordinary causes yea and from their proper stars they alwaies presage and foretell future euents In like manner as touching the windes or rather blasts I would not denie but that they may proceed from a dry exhalation of the earth void of all moisture neither is it impossible but that they do arise out of waters breathing and sending out an aire which neither can thicken into a mist nor gather into clouds also they may be driuen by the lugitation and impulsion of the Sun because the winde is conceiued to be nought els but the fluctuation and waiuing of the aire and that by many means also for some we see to rise out of riuers firths and seas euen when they be stil and calme as also others out of the earth which winds they name Altani And those verily when they come backe againe from the sea are called Tropaei if they go onward Apogaei CHAP. XLIIII ¶ What is the reason of the resounding and doubling of the Eccho BVt the windings of hils and their often turuings their many tops their crests and ridges also bending like an elbow or broken and arched as it were into shoulders together with the hollow noukes of vallies do cut vnequally the aire that reboundeth them fro which is the cause of reciprocall voices called Ecchoes answering one another in many places when a man doth holla or houpe among them CHAP. XLV ¶ Of Windes againe NOw there be certaine caues and holes which breed windes continually without end like as that is one which we see in the edge of Dalmatia with a wide mouth gaping leading to a deep downfall into which if you cast any matter of light weight be the day neuer so calm otherwise there ariseth presently a stormie tempest like a whirle puffe The places name is Senta Moreouer in the prouince Cyrenaica there is reported to be a rock consecrated to the South-wind which without prophanation may not be touched with mans hand but if it be presently the South wind doth arise and cast vp heaps of sand Also in many houses there be hollow places deuised made by mans hand for receipt of wind which being inclosed with shade and darknesse gather their blasts Whereby we may see how all winds haue one cause or other But great difference there is betweene such blasts and winds As for these they be setled and ordinarie continually blowing which not some smal tracts particular places but whole lands do feele which are not light gales nor stormy puffes named Aurae and Procellae but simply called winds by the Masculine name Venti which whether they arise by the continuall motion of the heauen and the contrary course of the Planets or whether this winde be that spirit of Nature that engendreth all things wandering to and fro as it were in some wombe or rather the aire beaten and driuen by the vnlike influences and raies of the straying starres or planets and the multiplicitie of their beames or whether all winds come from their owne stars namely these planets neerer at hand or rather fall from them that be fixed in the firmament Plaine and euident it is that guided they by an ordinary law of Nature not altogether vnknowne although it be not yet throughly knowne CHAP. XLVI ¶ The Natures and obseruations of the Windes THe old Greeke writers not so few as twentie haue set downe and recorded their obseruations of the Winds I maruell so much the more that the World being so at discord and diuided into kingdomes that is to say dismembred as it was so many men haue had care to seek after these things so intricate and hard to be found out and namely in time of wars and amid those places where was no safe lodging nor abode and especially when pyrats and rouers common enemies to mankinde held welneere all passages I maruell I say that at this day each man in his owne tract and countrey taketh more light and true knowledge of some things by their commentaries and bookes who neuer set foot there than they doe by the skill and information of home-born inhabitants whereas now in time of so blessed and ioious peace and vnder a prince who taketh such delight in the progresse of the State and of all good arts no new thing is learned by farther inquisition nay nor so much as the inuentions of old writers are throughly vnderstood And verily it cannot be said that greater rewards were in those daies giuen considering that the bountie of Fortune was dispersed and put into many mens hands and in truth most of these deepe Clerkes and learned men sought out these secrets for no other reward or regard than to doe good vnto posteritie But now mens manners are waxen old and decay now all good customes are in the waine and notwithstanding that the fruit of learning be as great as euer it was and the recompences as liberall yet men are become idle in this behalfe The seas are open to all an infinite multitude of saylers haue discouered all coasts whatsoeuer they saile through and arriue familiarly at euery shore all for gaine and lucre but none for knowledge and cunning Their mindes altogether blinded and bent vpon nothing
The North winde also bringeth in haile so doth Corus The South wind is exceeding hot and troublous withall Vulturnus and Favonius be warme They also be drier than the East and generally all winds from the North and West are drier than from the South and East Of all winds the Northern is most heathfull the Southern wind is noisome and the rather when it is drie haply because that when it is moist it is the colder During the time that it bloweth liuing creatures are thought to be lesse hungry the Etesiae giue ouer ordinarily in the night arise at the third houre of the day In Spaine and Asia they blow from the East but in Pontus from the North in other quarters from the South They blow also after the Mid-winter when they be called Orinthiae but those are more milde continue fewer daies Two there be that change their nature together with their site and place the South winde in Affrick bringeth faire weather and the North wind there is cloudy All winds keep their course in order for the more part or els when one ceaseth the contrary beginneth When some are laid the next to them do arise they go about from the left hand to the right according to the Sun Of their manner and order monthly the prime or fourth day after the change of the Moone doth most commonly determine The same windes wil serue to saile contrariwise by means of setting out the sailes so as many times in the night ships in sailing run one against another The South winde raiseth greater billowes and more surging waues than the North for that the South wind ariseth below from the bottome of the Sea the other blustereth aloft and troubleth the top of the water And therfore after Southern winds earth-quakes are most hurtful The South wind in the night time is more boisterous the Northerne wind in the day The winds blowing from the East hold and continue longer than those from the West The Northern winds giue ouer commonly with an odde number which obseruation serueth to good vse in many other parts of naturall things and therfore the male winds are iudged by the odde number The Sun both raiseth and also laieth the windes At rising and setting hee causeth them to be aloft at noon-tide he represseth and keepeth them vnder in Summer time And therefore at mid-day or mid-night commonly the winds are down and lie still for both cold and heat if they be immoderate do spend and consume them Also rain doth lay the winds and most commonly from thence they are looked for to blow where clouds break and open the skie to be seen And verily Eudoxus is of opinion if wee list to obserue the least reuolutions that after the end of euery fourth yere not only all winds but other tempests and constitutions also of the weather return again to the same course as before And alwaies the Lustrum or computation of the fiue yeres beginneth at the leap yere when the Dog-star doth arise Thus much touching general winds CHAP. XLVIII ¶ Of sudden Blasts NOw wil we speake of sudden blasts which being risen as hath bin said before by exhalations of the earth and cast downe againe in the meane while appeare of many fashions enclosed within athin course of clouds newly ouercast For such as be vnconstant wandering and rushing in manner of land flouds as some men were of opinion as wee haue shewed bring forth thunder and lightening But if they come with a greater force sway and violence and withall burst and cleaue a dry cloud asunder all abroad they breed a storme which of the Greeks is called Ecnephias but if the clift or breach be not great so that the wind be constrained to turne round to roll and whirle in his discent without fire i. lightening it makes a whirle puffe or ghust called Typhon i. the storme Ecnephias aforesaid sent out with a winding violence This takes with it a piece broken out of a congealed cold cloud turning winding and rolling it round and with that weight maketh the owne fall more heauie and changeth from place to place with a vehement and sudden whirling the greatest danger and mischiefe that poore sailers haue at sea breaking not onely their crosse saile yards but also writhing and bursting in pieces the very ships and yet a small matter is the remedy for it namely the casting of vinegre out against it as it commeth which is of nature most cold The same storme beating vpon a thing is it selfe smitten backe againe with a violence and snatcheth vp whatsoeuer it meeteth in the way aloft into the skie carrying it back and swallowing it vp on high But if it breake out from a greater hole of the said cloud by it so borne down and yet not altogether so broad as the abouenamed storm Procella doth nor without a cracke they call this boisterous wind Turbo casting downe and ouerthrowing all that is next it The same if it be more hot and catching a fire as it rageth is named Prester burning and withall laying along whatsoeuer it toucheth and encountereth CHAP. XLIX ¶ Other enormious kindes of Tempests NO Typhon commeth from the North ne yet any Ecnephias with snow or while snow lieth on the ground This tempestuous winde if when it brake the cloud burned light withall hauing fire of the owne before and catched it not afterward it is very lightning and differeth from Prester as the flame from a cole of fire Againe Prester spreadeth broad with a flash and blast the other gathereth round with forcible violence Typhon moreouer or Vortex differeth from Turben in flying backe and as much as a crash from a cracke The storme Procella from them both in breadth and to speake more truly rather scattereth than breaketh the cloud There riseth also vpon the sea a darke mist resembling a monstrous beast and this is euer a terrible cloud to sailers Another likewise called a Columne or Pillar when the humour and water ingendred is so thicke and stiffe congealed that it standeth compact of it selfe Of the same sort also is that cloud which draweth water to it as it were into a long pipe CHAP. L. ¶ In what Lands Lightenings fall not IN Winter and Summer seldome are there any Lightnings and that is long of contrary causes because in Winter the aire is driuen close together and thickened with a deeper course of clouds besides all the exhalations breathing and rising out of the earth being stark congealed and frozen hard do extinguish cleane what firie vapour soeuer otherwise they receiue which is the reason that Scythia and other cold frozen quarters thereabout are free from lightenings And Aegypt likewise vpon the contrarie cause and exempt from Lightnings namely exceeding heate for the hot and dry exhalations of the earth gather into very slender thin and weake clouds But in the Spring and Autumne lightnings are more rife because in both those seasons the causes as well of Summer as
they are saith he by these markes In one of their eies they haue two sights in the other the print or resemblance of an horse He reports besides of these men that they wil neuer sinke or drowne in the water be they charged neuer somuch with weighty and heauy apparel Not vnlike to these there are a people in Aethiopia called Pharnaces whose sweat if it chance to touch a mans body presently he falleth into a phthisick or consumption of the lungs And Cicero a Romane writer here among vs testifieth that generally all women that haue such double apples in their eies haue a venemous sight and doe hurt therewith See how nature hauing engraffed naturally in some men this vnkind appetite like wild beasts to feed commonly vpon the bowels and flesh of men hath taken delight also pleasure to giue them inbred poisons in their whol body yea venom in the very eies of some that there should be no naughtinesse in the world againe but the same might be found in man Not farre from Rome city within the territory of the Falisci there be some few houses families called Hirpiae which at their solemne yearely sacrifice celebrated by them in the honour of Apollo vpon the mount Sorecte walke vpon the pile of wood as it is on fire in great iolity and neuer a whit are burnt withall For which cause it is ordained by an expresse arest or act of the Senat that they should be priuiledged and haue immunity of warfare and all other seruices whatsoeuer Some men there be that haue certaine members and parts of their bodies naturally working strange and miraculous effects and in some cases medicinable As for example king Pyrrhus whose great toe of his right foot was good for them that had big swelled or indurate spleenes if he did but touch the parties diseased with that toe And they say moreouer that when the rest of his body was burnt after the manner in the funerall fire that great toe the fire had no power to consume so that it was bestowed in a litle case for the nones and hung vp in the temple for a holy relique But principally aboue all other countries India and the whole tract of Aethiopia is full of these strange and miraculous things And first formost the beasts bred in India be very big as it may appeare by their dogs which for proportion are much greater than those in other parts And trees grow there to that tallnesse that a man cannot shoot a shaft ouer them The reason hereof is the goodnesse and fatnesse of the ground the temperat constitution of the aire and the abundance of water which is the cause also that vnder one fig tree beleeue it that list there may certaine troupes and squadrons of horsmen stand in couert shaded with the boughes And as for reeds they be of such a length that between euery ioint they will yeeld sufficient to make boats able to receiue three men apeece for to row therein at ease There are to be seene many men there aboue fiue cubits tall neuer are they known once to spit troubled they are not with pain in the head tooth-ach or griefe of the eies and seldome or neuer complaine they of any sorance in other parts of the body so hardy are they and of so strong a constitution thorough the moderat heat of the Sun Ouer and besides among the Indians be certain Philosophers whom they call Gymnosophists who from the Sun rising to the setting thereof are able to endure all the day long looking full against the Sunne without winking or once mouing their eies from morning to night can abide to stand somtimes vpon one leg and sometimes on the other in the sand as scalding hot as it is Vpon a certaine mountaine named Milus there be men whose feet grow the tother way backward and of either foot they haue eight toes as Megasthenes doth report And in many other hils of that countrey there is a kind of men with heads like dogs clad all ouer with skins of wild beasts who in lieu of speech vse to bark armed they are and well appointed with sharp and trenchant nailes they liue vpon the prey which they get by chasing wild beasts fowling Ctesias writes that there were discouered and knowne of them aboue 120000 in number By whose report also in a certaine country of India the women beare but once in their life and their in fants presently waxe grey so soone as they are borne into the world Also that there is a kind of people named Monoscelli that haue but one leg apeece but they are most nimble and hop wondrous swiftly The same men are also called Sciopodes for that in hotest season of the Summer they ly along on their back and defend themselues with their feet against the Suns heate and these people as he saith are not farre from the Troglodites Againe beyond these Westward some there be without heads standing vpon their necks who cary eies in their shoulders Among the Westerne mountains of India the Satyres haunt the country wherein they be is called the region of the Cartaduli creatures of all other most swift in footmanship which one whiles run with all foure otherwhiles vpon two feet only like men but so light footed they are that vnlesse they be very old and sick they can neuer be taken Tauron writeth That the Choromandae are a sauage and wild people distinct voice and speech they haue none but in stead thereof they keep an horrible gnashing and hideous noise rough they are and hairy all ouer their bodies eies they haue red like the houlets and toothed they be like dogs Eudoxus saith That in the Southern parts of India the men kind haue feet a cubit long but the wome so short smal that thereupon they be called Struthopodes i. sparrow footed Megasthenes is my Author that among the Indian Nomades there is a kind of people that in stead of noses haue only two smal holes and after the manner of snakes they haue their legs feet limmer wherwith they crawle and creep and named they are Syrictae In the vtmost marches of India Eastward about the source head of the riuer Ganges there is a nation called the Astomes for that they haue no mouths all hairy ouer the whole body yet clothed with soft cotton and down that come from the leaues of trees they liue only by the aire and smelling to sweet odors which they draw in at their nosthrils No meat nor drinke they take only pleasant sauours from diuers and sundry roots floures and wild fruits growing in the woods they entertaine and those they vse to carry about with them when they take any farre journey because they would not misse their smelling And yet if the sent be any thing strong and stinking they are soone therwith ouercome dy withal Higher in the country and aboue these euen in the edge and skirts of the mountains the Pygmaei
them hornes but some are nott but in those which are horned a man may know their age by the number of the knots therein more or lesse and in very truth the nott shee goats are more free of milke Archelaus writeth that they take their breath at the eares and not at the nostrils also that they be neuer cleare of the ague And this haply is the cause that they are hotter mouthed and haue a stronger breath than sheepe and more egre in their rut Men say moreouer that they see by night as well as by day therefore they that when euening is come see nothing at all recouer their perfect sight again by eating ordinarily the liuer of goats In Cilicia and about the Syrtes the people clad themselues with goats haire for there they shere them as sheep Furthermore it is said that goats toward the Sun-setting cannot in their pasture see directly one another but by turning taile to taile as for other houres of the day they keep head to head range together with the rest of their fellowes They haue all of them a tuft of haire like a beard hanging vnder their chin which they call Aruncus If a man take one of them by this beard and draw it forth of the stock all the rest will stand still gazing thereat as if they were astonied and so wil they doe if any of them chaunce to bite of a certaine hearb Their teeth kill trees As for an oliue tree if they doe but lick it they spoile it for euer bearing after and for this cause they be not killed in sacrifice to Minerua CHAP. LI. ¶ Of Swine and their natures SWine goe a brimming from the time that the Westerne wind Fauonius beginnes to blow vntill the spring Aequinoctiall and they take the bore when they be eight months old yea in some places at the fourth month of their age and continue breeding vnto the seuenth yeare They farrow commonly twice a yeare they be with pig foure months One sow may bring at one farrow twenty pigges but reare so many she cannot Nigidius saith that those pigs which are farrowed ten daies vnder or ten daies ouer the shortest day in the yeare when the sun entreth into Capricorn haue teeth immediatly They stand lightly to the first brimming but by reason that they are subject to cast their pigs they had need to be brimmed a second time Howbeit the best way to preuent that they doe not slip their young is to keepe the bore from them at their first grunting and seeking after him nor to let them be brimmed before their ears hang downe Bores be not good to brim swine after they be three yeres old Sowes when they be wearie for age that they cannot stand take the bore lying along That a sow should eat her own pigs it is no prodigious wonder A pig is pure good for sacrifice 5 daies after it is farrowed a lamb when it hath been yeaned 8 daies and a calfe being 30 daies old But Gornucanus saith That all beasts for sacrifice which chew cud are not pure and right for that purpose vntill they haue teeth Swine hauing lost on eie are not thought to liue long after otherwise they may continue vntill they be fifteen yeares old yea some to twenty But they grow to be wood and raging otherwhiles and besides are subject to many maladies more most of all to the squinancie and wen or swelling of the kernels in the neck Will ye know when a swine is sick or vnsound pluck a bristle from the back and it will be bloudie at the root also he will cary his neck atone side as he goeth A sow if she be ouer-fat soone wanteth milke and at her first farrow bringeth fewest pigs All the kind of them loue to wallow in dirt and mire They wrinkle their taile wherin this also is obserued that they be more likely to appease the gods in sacrifice that rather writh turn their tailes to the right hand than the left Swine wil be fat and wel larded in sixtie daies and the rather if before you begin to frank them vp they be kept altogether from meat three daies Of all other beasts they are most brutish insomuch as there goes a pleasant by-word of them and fitteth them well That their life is giuen them in stead of salt This is known for a truth that when certaine theeues had stolne and driuen away a companie of them the swinheard hauing followed them to the water side for by that time were the theeues imbarged with them cried aloud vnto the swine as his manner was whereupon they knowing his voice learned all to one side of the vessel turned it ouer and sunke it tooke the water and so swam againe to land vnto their keeper Moreouer the hogs that vse to lead and goe before the heard are so well trained that they wil of themselues goe to the swine-market place within the citie from thence home againe to their maisters without any guid to direct them The wild bores in this kind haue the wit to couer their tracks with mire and for the nones to run ouer marish ground where the prints of their footing will not be sene yea and to be more light in running to void their vrine first Sowes also are splaied as well as camels but two daies before they be kept from meat then hang they by the fore-legs for to make incision into their matrice and to take forth their stones and by this means they will sooner grow to be fat There is an Art also in cookerie to make the liuer of a sow as also of a goose more daintie and it was the deuise of M. Apicius namely to feed them with drie figges and when they haue eaten till they bee full presently to giue them mead or honied wine to drink vntill they die with being ouercharged There is not the flesh of any other liuing creature that yeeldeth more store of dishes to the maintenance of gluttonie than this for fiftie sundrie sorts of tastes it affordeth whereas other haue but one a peece From hence came so many edicts and proclamations published by the Censors forbidding and prohibiting to serue vp at any feast or supper the belly and paps of a sow the kernels about the neck the brizen the stones the womb and the fore-part of the bores head and yet for all that Publius the Poet and maker of wanton songs after that he was come to his freedom neuer by report had supper without an hogs belly with the paps who also to that dish gaue the name and called it Sumen Moreouer the flesh of wild bores came to be in great request and was much set by in such sort as Cato the Censor in his inuectiue orations challenged men for brawne And yet when they made three kinds of meat of the wild bore the loine was alwaies serued vp in the mids The first Romane that brought to the table a whole bore at once
like hapned in a lake of Thessaly named Sicendus In Italy the hardy shrews are venomous in their biting but passe ouer the Apennine once there are no more such to be found In what country soeuer they be let them go ouer the tract of a cart wheele they die presently In Olympus a mountaine of Macedony there are no wolues ne yet in the Isle of Candy and there verily are to be found no Foxes nor Beares and in one word no hurtfull or noisome beast vnlesse it be a kinde of spider called Phalangium whereof we will speake more in due time and place And that which is more wonderfull in the same Isle there are no stags or hinds saue only in the region and quarter of the Cydoniates no wild bores likewise nor the fowle called the Godwit or Attagene ne yet Vrchins To conclude in Africk ye shall find no wild bores no Stags and Hinds no roe-bucks and Does ne yet Beares CHAP. LIX ¶ What Creatures are hurtfull to strangers NOw some liuing creatures there be that do no harm at all to the inhabitants of the same countries but kill all strangers Namely certain serpents in Tirinthe which are supposed to breed of themselues out of the very earth Semblably in Syria there be snakes and specially along the banks of Euphrates that will not touch the Sirians lying along asleep nay if a man that leans vpon them be stung or bitten by them he shal find no hurt or mischief thereby But to men of all other nations whatsoeuer they are most spightfully bent them they will with great greedinesse eagerly assaile and fly vpon yea and kill them with extreme paine and anguish and therefore it is that the Sirians destroy them not Contrariwise Aristotle reporteth That in Latmos a mountain in Caria the Scorpions will do no harm to strangers marie the inhabitants of the same country they will sting to death Now let vs proceed to other liuing creatures besides those of the land and discourse of their sundry sorts and kinds THE NINTH BOOKE OF THE HISTORIE OF NATVRE WRITTEN BY C. PLINIVS SECVNDVS CHAP. I. ¶ The nature of water Creatures I Haue thus shewed the nature of those beasts that liue vpon the land and therein haue some societie fellowship with men And considering that of all others besides in the world they that flie be the least we will first treat of those fish that keep in the sea not forgetting those also either in running fresh riuers or standing lakes CHAP. II. ¶ What the reason is why the sea should breed the greatest liuing creatures THe waters bring forth more store of liuing creatures and the same greater than the land The cause wherof is euident euen the excessiue abundance of moisture As for the fouls birds who liue hanging as it were houering in the aire their case is otherwise Now in the sea being so wide so large and open readie to receiue from heauen aboue the genitall seeds and causes of generation being so soft and pliable so proper fit to yeeld nourishment and encrease assisted also by Nature which is nouer idle but alwaies framing one new creature or other no maruell it is if there are found so many strange and monstrous things as there be For the seeds and vniuersall elements of the world are so interlaced sundry waies and mingled one within another partly by the blowing of the winds and partly with the rolling and agation of the waues insomuch as it may truly be said according to the vulgar opinion that whatsoeuer is engendred and bred in any part of the world besides is to be found in the sea and many more things in it which no where else are to be seen For there shall ye meet with fishes resembling not onely the forme and shape of land creatures liuing but also the figure and fashion of many things without life there may one see bunches of grapes swords and sawes represented yea and also cowâ—…umbers which for colour smell and taste resembleth those growing vpon the earth And therefore we need the lesse to wonder if in so little shell fishes as are cockles there be somewhat standing out like horse-heads CHAP. III. ¶ Of the monstrous fishes in the Indian sea THe Indian sea breedeth the most and biggest fishes that are among which the Whales and Whirlepooles called Balaenae take vp in length as much as foure acres or arpens of land likewise the Pristes are two hundred cubits long and no maruell since Locusts are there to be found of foure cubits in length and yeeles within the riuer Ganges of thirtie foot in length But these monstrous fishes in the sea are most to be seen about the middest of Summer when the daies be at the longest with vs. For then by the means of whirlewinds storms winds and blustering tempests which come with violence down from the mountains and promontories the seas are troubled from the very bottome and turned vpside downe whereupon the surging billowes thereof raise these monsters out of the deep and roll them vp to be seen For in that manner so great a multitude of Tunnies were discouered and arose that the whole armada of king Alexander the great seeing them comming like to an armie of enemies in order of battell was driuen to range make head against them close vnited together for otherwise if they had sailed scattering asunder there had bin no way to escape but ouerturned they had bin with such a force and sway came these Tunnies in a skull vpon them And verily no voice crie hollaing and houting no nor any blowes and raps affrighted this kind of fish only at some cracke or crashing noise they be terrified and neuer are they troubled and disquieted so much as when they perceiue some huge thing ready to fall vpon them In the red sea there lies a great demie Island named Cadara so farre out into the sea that it maketh a huge gulfe vnder the wind which king Ptolomaeus was 12 daies and 12 nights a rowing through forasmuch as there is no wind at all vses to blow there In this creeke so close and quiet there be fish and Whales grow to that bignes that for their very weight and vnweldines of their bodie they are not able to stirre The Admirals and other captaines of the fleet of the foresaid Alexander the great made report That the Gedrosi a people dwelling vpon the riuer Arbis vse to make of such fishes chawes the dores of their houses also that they lay their bones ouerthwart from one side of the house to another in stead of beames joists and rafters to beare vp their floores and roufes and that some of them were found to be fortie cubits long In those parts there be found in the sea certaine strange beasts like sheep which goe forth to land feed vpon the roots of plants and herbes and then returne againe into the sea Others also which are headed like Horses Asses and Buls and those many
there is not a tree not so much as the very Vine that sheddeth leaues CHAP. XXII ¶ The nature of such leaues as fall from trees and what leaues they be that change colour ALl trees without the range of those before rehearsed for to reckon them vp by name particularly were a long and tedious piece of work do lose their leaues in winter And verily this hath bin found and obserued by experience that no leaues doe fade and wither but such as be thinne broad and soft As for such as fall not from the tree they be commonly thick skinned hard and narrow and therefore it is a false principle and position held by some That no trees shed their leaues which haue in them a fatty sap or oleous humiditie for who could euer perceiue any such thing in the Mast-holme a drier tree there is not and yet it holdeth alwaies green Timaeus the great Astrologer and Mathematician is of opinion that the Sun being in the signe Scorpio he causeth leaues to fall by a certain venomous and poysoned infection of the aire proceeding from the influence of that maligne constellation But if that were true we may wel and iustly maruell why the same cause should not be effectuall likewise in all other trees Moreouer we see that most trees do let fall their leaues in Autumne some are longer ere they shed continuing green vntill winter be come Neither is the timely or slow fall of the leafe long of the early or late budding for wee see some that burgen and shoot out their spring with the first and yet with the last shed their leaues and become naked as namely the Almond trees Ashes and Elders And contrariwise the Mulberry tree putteth forth leaues with the latest and is one of them that soonest sheddeth them again But the cause hereof lies much in the nature of the soile for the trees that grow vpon a leane dry and hungry ground do sooner cast leafe than others also old trees become bare before yonger and many of them also lose their leaues before their fruit be fully ripe for in the Fig tree that commeth and beaâ—…th late in the winter Pyrry and Pomegranate a man shall see in the later end of the yere fruit only and no leaues vpon the tree Now as touching those trees that continue euer greene you must not think that they keep still the same leaues for as new come the old wither fal away which hapneth commonly in mid-Iune about the Summer Sunne-stead For the most part the leaues in euery kind of tree do hold one and the same colour and continue vniform saue those of the Poplar Ivy and Croton which wee said was called also Cici iâ—… est Ricinus or Palma Christi CHAP. XXIII ¶ Three sorts of Poplar and what leaues they be that change their shape and figure OF Poplars there be found three sundry kinds to wit the white the blacke and that which is named Lybica or the Poplar of Guynee this hath least leaues and those of all other blackest but mow commendable they are for the fungous meazles as it were that come forth thereof As for the white Poplar leafe the leaues when they be yong are as round as if they were drawn with a paire of compasses like vnto those of Citron before named but as they grow elder they run out into certain angles or corners Contrariwise the Ivy leaues at the first be cornered and afterwards become round All Poplar leaues are full of downe as for the white Poplar which is fuller of leaues than the rest the said downe flieth away in the aire like to mossie chats or Thistle-downe The leaues of Pomegranats and Almond trees stand much vpon the red colour But very strange it is and wonderfull which hapneth to the Elme Tillet or Linden the Oliue tree Aspe and Sallow or Willow for their leaues after Midsummer turn about vpside downe in such sort as there is not a more certaine argument that the Sun is entred Cancer and returneth from the South point or Summer Tropicke than to see those leaues so turned CHAP. XXIIII ¶ What leaues they be that vse to turne euery yeare Of Palme or Date tree leaues how they are to be ordered and vsed Also certain wonderfull obseruations about leaues THere is a certain general and vniuersal diuersitie difference obserued in the very leaf for commonly the vpper side which is from the ground is of greene grasse colour more smooth also polished The outside or nether part of the leaf hath in it certain strings sinues or veins brawns and ioynts bearing out like as in the back part of a mans hand but the inside cuts or lines in maner of the palme of ones hand The leaues of the oliue are on the vpper part whiter and lesse smooth and likewise of the Ivy. But the leaues of all trees for most part euery day do turn and open to the Sunne as desirous to haue the inner side warmed therewith The outward or nether side toward the ground of all leaues hath a certaine hoary downe more or lesse here in Italy but in other countries so much there is of it that it serueth the turn for wooll and cotton In the East parts of the world they make good cordage and strong ropes of date tree leaues as we haue said before and the same are better serue longer within than without With vs these Date leaues are pulled from the tree in the Spring whiles they are whole and entire for the better be they which are not clouen or diuided Being thus plucked they are laid a drying within house foure daies together After that they be spred abroad and displaied open to the Sun and left without dores to take all weathers both day and night and to be bleached vntil they be dry and white which done they be sliued and slit for cord-work But to come again to other leaues the broadest are vpon the Fig-tree the Vine and the Plane the narrowest vpon the Myrtle Pomegranat and oliue as for those of the Pine and cedar they be hairy the Holly leaues and all the kindes of Holme be set with sharpe prickes As for the Iuniper in stead of leafe it hath a very pointed thorne The Cypresse and Tamariske carrie fleshie leaues those of the Alder be most thick of all other The Reed and the Willow haue long leaues the Date tree hath them double The leaues of the Peare tree are round but those of the Apple tree are pointed of the Ivie cornered of the Plane tree diuided into certaine incisions of the Pitch tree and the Fir cut in after the maner of comb-teeth of the wild hard Oke waued and indented round about the edges of the brier and bramble sharpe like thornes all the skin ouer Of some they be stinging and biting as of Nettles of others ready to pricke like pins or needles as of the Pine the Pitch tree the Larch the Firre the Cedar and all the
winds hurt all spiked corne as well Wheat as Barly at three seueral times to wit in their floure presently vpon their blooming and last of all when they begin to ripen for then namely when they are vpon the point of maturitie those blasts consume the grain and bring it to nothing which before was full whereas at the two former seasons they hinder it altogether from knitting and growing The hot gleames moreouer of the Sun betweene often clouding do much harme to corne Furthermore there be certaine little wormes breeding in the root that do eat it which happeneth by occasion of much raine falling immediatly after the seednesse especially when some sudden heat and drowth ensueth therupon which bindeth the earth aboue and so encloseth the moisture conceiued within the very cause nourice of putrifaction Ye shall haue other such like vermin engender likewise in the very grain of the corn namely when the ear doth glow within and is chafed with sultry hot rains Ouer and besides there be certain green flies like small Beetles called Cantharides which do gnaw and eat the corne But al these and such like worms or flies die presently when the corn which was their food is gone Moreouer Oile Pitch and Tarre all manner of greace also be contrarie to seed-corne especially and therefore take heed that you sow none such as hath caught oile pitch or grease As for showers of raine good they are for corne so long only as it is in the green blade when corne is blooming be it either wheat or barley or such like raine is hurtfull Mary Pulse takes no harme thereby vnlesse it be the Cich-pease All kinds of wheat and other bread corne when they be toward ripenesse catch hurt by showers but Barley more than any Besides all this there is a certaine white hearbe or weed resembling Panicke growing among corne and ouerspreading whole fields which not onely hindereth corne but also killeth all the cattell that feedeth thereupon For as touching ray or darnel burs thistles and brambles I may hold and reckon them not so much for faults and imperfections of corn as rather the plagues and infections proceeding from the very earth And for blasting which commeth of some distemperature of the aire a mischiefe common as well to corn as vines it is as hurtful as any other malady whatsoeuer This vnhappie blast falleth most often in places subject to mists and dewes and namely hollow vallies and low grounds lying vnder the winde for contrariwise windie quarters and such as are mounted high are not subiect to this inconuenience Also we may number among the faults incident to corne their rankenesse namely when the blade is so ouergrowne and the stalke so charged and loden with a heauie head that the corn standeth not vpright but is lodged lieth along Moreouer when there fals a great glut of rain insomuch as the ground stands with water there befalleth vnto all corn and pulse yea and whatsoeuer is sowne a certaine disease called in Latine Vrica insomuch as the very Cich-pease taketh hurt therby for by reason that the rain washed from them that salt quality which was naturall thereunto it becommeth sweeter than it should be and loseth the kind tast There is a weed that claspeth and tieth about Ciches and Eruiles wherby it choketh and killeth them both and thereupon it is called Orobanctum i. Choke Eruile After the same maner dealeth Ray or Darnel by wheat wild Otes likewise named by some Aegilops with barly as also the weed Securidaca i. Ax-fitch which the Greeks also for the resemblance that it hath to an axe head call Pelicinon with Lentils These weeds I say kill corne by winding about it Another herb there is growing neere to the city Philippi which killeth Beans if the ground be fat and good they name the said weed Ateramnon but if it be found in a hungry and leane soile and namely when being wet some vnhappy wind bloweth vpon it they call it Teramnon As for the graine of Raie or Darnell it is very small and lieth inclosed with a sharpe-pointed husk The bread which hath any of this seed in it soone causeth dizinesse and swimming of the head And by report in Asia and Greece the masters of the common Bains and Stuphes when they would keep away the great resort of multitude thither haue a deuise to cast Darnell seeds vpon burning coles for this perfume will quickly set them farther off Moreouer if the Winter proue to be wet and waterish ye shall haue in the Pulse called Eruile a little vermin ingendred there called Phalangion and it is of the kind of these spiders Likewise vpon Vetches there wil breed naked dew-snails yea otherwhile those little ones with shels or houses on their backs which creeping from the ground wil gnaw eat them that it is a wonder to see what foul work they will make Thus much concerning all the maladies and inconueniences to speak of incident to corne It remaineth now to treat of the remedies As touching the cure of those harms that come by hurtful weeds to the corn in blade it consisteth principally in two things namely either in the vse of the weeding knife or hooke when they be newly come vp or els in strewing ashes when the corn is a sowing But as for those dangers that touch the seed or grain in the eare and cod as also that settle about the root they must be preuented by good forecast euen before it be thrown into the ground It is generaly thought that if seed-corn lie steeped beforehand in Wine it will be better able afterwards to resist all diseases whatsoeuer Virgil giueth order to infuse or soke the Beanes that must be sown in nitre and oile lees or dregs and he assureth vs that they will prosper mightily besides and become exceeding great But others are of opinion that if for 3 daies before they be cast into the earth they lie in vrine shere water mingled together they wil being thus prepared come on apace and thriue passing well It is said moreouer That if Beans be thrice raked and rid from weedes one Modius of them being whole and solid wil yeeld a Modius again after it is husked broken As for other seed-corn it wil escape the danger of the worme if either it lie before among Cypresse leaues bruised or be sowed in and about the change of the Moon namely when she is not to be seen aboue the earth in our hemisphaere Many there be who practise other remedies namely for the Millet they would haue a toad to be caried round about the field before that it be harrowed which done to be put close within an earthen pot and so buried in the middest of the said field and by this meanes for sooth neither Sparrows will lie vpon the corn nor any worm hurt it Mary in any case this same toad must be digged out of the ground againe before the field be
countreymen haue not beene studious in this behalfe to giue any Latine names to the greatest part of them besides most of them are meere strangers in Italy and grow in forrain parts howbeit looked for it will be at our hands that we should enter into the discourse of them also for that our purpose designe reacheth to all the works of Nature and is not limited confined within the bounds of Italy Well then to begin withall Melothron Spireon Trigonon Cneoron which Hyginus calleth Casia affourd leaues very meet to make chaplets so doth Conyza called otherwise cunilago Melyssophyllon named also Apiastrum i. Bawme and Melilot which wee commonly terme Sertula Campana good reason for the best in Italy is that of Campain in Greece that which groweth in the promentory Sunium Next to these the Melilot of Chalcis Candie is wel accepted of but grow it in what countrey it wil rough thickets and woods it delighteth most in And that of this hearb they were woont vsually in old time to make garlands may appeare by the very name Sertula which it took therupon and retaineth still In sauor floure both it commeth neare to Saffron the hearbe otherwise of it selfe is hoary and gray The best Melilot is counted that which hath shortrst leaues and those most plumpe and fattie withall Semblably the hearbe Trifoile or Clauer hath leaues which go to the making of coronets and guirlands And hereof there be three kinds the first is that which the Greeks call Mynianthes others Asphaltion hauing a bigger leafe than the rest and hearbe that garden-makers commonly vse the second with a sharpe leafe called thereupon Oxytriphyllon the third which is least of al other Among these Trifoiles I cannot but aduertise the reader that some there be which haue strong and firme stems as neruous as those of garden Fennell and Fennell wild yea and as stiffe as those of Myophonos But to returne againe to our chaplets there bee emploied about them both the maine stalkes of Ferula as also the berries and purple floures of the Iuie There is besides a kind of them like vnto the wild roses and in them verily the colour only is delectable for odour they haue just none To conclude of Cneoron there be two kinds the blacke and the white both well branched and full of leaues but the white is most odoriferous and as well the one as the other doe flourish after the Aequinox in Autumne CHAP. X. ¶ Of Orygaunm and Thyme of the Athenien honey of Conyza and Iupiters floure of Southernewood and Camomile AS many sorts also there be of Origanum seruing to make guirlands as for one of them it hath no seed but the other which is sweet is called Origan of Candy In like manner two kinds there be of Thyme to wit the white and the blacke this hearb doth flourish about the Summer Solstice at what time as Bees also begin to gather honey from it and according to the flouring of it more or lesse a man may guesse ful wel what season there wil be for hony for honey-masters and such as keep Bees hope to haue a good yere of honey when they see the Thyme to bloume abundantly Thyme canot well away with rain and therfore it taketh harme by shoures and sheddeth the floure Thyme seed lyeth so close that vnneth or hardly it can bee found wheras the seed of Origan notwithstanding it be exceeding smal is euident enough and may soone be seene But what matter maketh it that Nature hath so hidden the seed considering it is wel known that it lyeth in the very floure which if it be sown commeth vp as well as any other seed See the industrie of men and how there is nothing but they haue made trial of and put in practise The honey of Athens carieth the name for the best honey in the world by reason of the Thyme growing thereabout Men therfore haue brought ouer into other countries Thyme out of Attica although hardly and with much ado being sown thus in the floure as I haue said it commeth vp But there is another reason in Nature why it should thriue so badly in Italy or elsewhere considering that the Atticke Thyme wil not continue liue but within the aire and breath of the sea Certes this was an opinion receiued generally of our auncient fore-fathers That no Thyme would doe well and prosper but neere vnto the Sea which should be the cause that in Arcadia there is none of it to be found And in those daies also men were verily persuaded that the Oliue would not grow but in the compasse of three hundred stadia from the Sea side howbeit in this our age verily we are aduertised and know for certain That in Languedoc and the prouince of Narbon the very stonie places are all ouergrowne and couered with Thyme vpon which there are fed thousands of sheepe and other cattaile in such sort as this kind of herbage and pasturage yeeldeth a great reuenue to the inhabitants and paisants of that countrey by joisting and laying in of the said beasts brought thither out of far remore parts for to feed vpon Thyme Concerning the hearbe Conyza which goeth also to the making of Chaplets there be two kinds likewise of it namely the male the female And these differ onely in leaues for those of the female Conyza be thinner smaller narrower and growing closer together than the other of the male which indeed branch and spread abroad more lapping one ouer another in manner of crest tiles The floures also of the male Conyza is more bright and liuely howbeit both the one and the other floure late and not before the rising or apparition of the star Arcturus The male carrieth a strong sent but that of the female is more penetrant in which regard the female is better for the bite and sting of venomous beasts The leaues of the female smell of Hony The root of the male is by some called Libanotis whereof we haue already written As touching these herbs following Dios Anthos Majoran the day Lillie Hemerocalles Sothernwood Elecampane water Mints and wild running Thyme as also all which do branch and put forth shoots as Roses do such serue only in leafe for garlands As for the said Iupiters floure or Dios Anthos particularly there is nothing in it but the colour to commend it for sauor it hath none no more than another herb which the Greeks call Phlox As for the rest their floures and branches both be odoriferous except the running wild Thyme Elecampane named in Greeke Helenium sprang first as men say from the teares of Ladie Helena and therefore the best Elecampane is that which groweth in the Island of Helena The plant is leafed like vnto wild Thyme spreading running low by the ground with little branches nine inches or a span long Sothernwood doth flourish in Summer and carrieth a sweet and pleasant sauor howbeit the
reiect and reach vp bloud and for the Squinance Next after the wine verjuice Omphacium I cannot chuse but write of Oenanthe which is the floure that wild vines do beare whereof I haue already made mention in my discourse of ointments The best Oenanthe is that of Syria especially along the coasts and mountaines of Antiochia and Laodicea That which groweth vpon the white vine is refrigeratiue and astringent being powdered and strewed vpon wounds it doth very much good applied as a liniment to the stomack it is exceeding comfortable A proper medicine it is for the suppression of vrine the infirmities and diseases of the liuer the head-ache the bloudie flix the imbecility of the stomack and the loosenesse proceeding from it also for the violent motion of cholerick humours proceeding vpward and downeward The weight of one obolus thereof taken with vineger helpeth the loathing that the stomacke hath to meat and procureth appetite It drieth vp the running scales breaking out in the head and most effectuall it is to heale all vlcers in moist parts and therefore cureth sores in the mouth priuie members and the seat or fundament Taken with hony and saffron it knitteth the belly The scurfe and roughnesse of the eie-lids it doth clense and make them smooth it represseth rheume in waterie eies Giuen in wine to drink it comforteth and confirmeth feeble stomackes but in cold water it staies the casting and reaching vp of bloud The ashes thereof is much commended in collyries eie-salues also for to mundifie filthy and vlcerous sores to heale likewise whitflawes rising at the naile roots and either the going away of the flesh from them or the excrescence thereof remaining about them For to bring it into ashes it must be torrified in an Ouen and so continue vntill the bread be baked and readic for to bee drawne As for Massaris or the Oenanthe in Africke it is imploied onely about sweet odours and pomanders and both it as also other floures men haue brought into so great name by making haste to gather them before they could knit to any fruit so inuentiue is mans wit and so greedy to hunt after nouelties and strange deuises CHAP. I. ¶ The medicines which grapes fresh and new gathered do yeeld Of Vine branches and cuttings of grape kernels and the cake remaining after the presse Of the grape Theriace Of dried grapes or Raisins Of Astaphis of Staphis-acre otherwise called Pituitaria Of the wild vine Labrusca of the wild vine both white and blacke Of Musts or new wines Of sundry kinds of Wine and of Vineger OF Grapes that grow to their ripenesse and maturitie the blacke are more vehement in their operation than the white and therefore the wine made of them is nothing so pleasant for in very truth the white grapes be sweeter far by reason they are more transparent and cleare and therefore receiue the aire into them more easily Grapes new gathered do puffe vp the stomacke and fill it with winde they trouble also the belly which is the cause that men are forbidden to eat them in feuers especially in great quantity for they breed heauinesse in the head and induce the Patient to sleepe ouermuch vntill hee grow into a lethargie Lesse harme doe those grapes which after they be gathered hang a long time by which means they take the impression of wind and aire and so become wholsome to the stomacke and to any sicke person for they doe gently coole and bring the Patient to a stomacke againe Such grapes as haue bin condite and preserued in some sweet wine are offensiue to the head and fume vp into the brains Next in request to those aboue said which haue hanged a long time be such as haue bin kept in chaffe for as many as haue lien among wine-marc or the refuse of kernels skins remaining after the presse are hurtfull to the head the bladder and the stomacke howbeit they doe stop a laske and nothing is there better in the world for those that doe cast and reach vp bloud and yet those grapes that haue bin kept in must or new wine are much worse than such as haue lien in the marc afore said Moreouer wine cuit if they haue come into it maketh them hurtfull and offensiue to the stomack But if they must needs be preserued in some liquor the Physitians hold them most whol some which haue bin kept in rain water although they be least toothsome for they do the stomack a great pleasure in the hot distemperature thereof they be comfortable when the mouth is bitter by occasion of the regurgitation of choler from the liuer and the burse of the gal they giue great contentment also in bitter vomits in the violent and inordinat motion of cholerick humors raging vpward and downward as also in case of dropsie to those that lie sick of burning feuers As touching grapes preserued in earthen pots they refresh and season the mouth which was out of tast they open the stomack and stir vp the appetite to meat how beit this inconuenience they bring with them That they are thought to lie more heauy in the stomacke by reason of the breath and vapor which exhaleth from their kernels If hens capons cocks and such like pullen be serued among their meat with the floures of grapes so as they once tast and eat thereof they wil not afterwards peck or touch any grapes hanging by clusters vpon the vine The naked branches and bunches wherupon there were grapes haue an astrictiue vertue and indeed more effectual that way be such as come out of the pots abouesaid The kernels or stone within the grapes haue the same operation and in very truth these be they and nothing els whereby wine causeth head-ach Being torrified beaten to pouder and so taken they be good for the stomack Their pouder is vsually put into the pot in manner of barly groats for to thicken broth and suppings which are ordained for them who haue the bloudy flix who are troubled with a continual loosnesse following them by occasion of the imbecillity of the stomack and for such as are ready to keck and heaue at euery little thing Their decoction serueth very wel to foment those parts which are broken out and giuen to bleach and itch The stones themselues are lesse hurtful to the head or bladder than the little kernels within The same beeing driuen into pouder and applied with salt are good for inflammations of womens brests the decoction thereof whether it be taken inwardly or vsed by way of fomentation helpeth as well those who haue gone a long time with a dysentery or bloudy flix as them who through imbecility of stomack do scoure and purge downward continually The grape Theriace whereof we haue written in due place is good to be taken as a counterpoison against the sting of serpents it is a common receiued opinion that the burgeons and branches of that vine should likewise be taken inwardly
Poet maketh mention of many singular herbs in Aegypt which the Kings wife of that country gaue to that lady of his Helena of whom he writeth so much and namely the noble Nepenthes which had this singular vertue and operation To work obliuion of melancholy heauinesse yea and to procure easement and remission of all sorrowes which I say the queene bestowed vpon Helena to this end That she should communicate and impart it to the whole world for to be drunke in those cases abouesaid But the first man knowne by all records to haue written any thing exactly and curiously of simples was Orpheus As for Musaeus and Hesiodus after him in what admiration they held and how highly they esteemed the herb Polion aboue the rest I haue shewed already Certes Orpheus and Hesiodus both haue highly commended vnto vs perfumes and suffumigations And Homer likewise writeth expressely of certain herbs by name of singular vertue which I wil put downe in their due places After him came Pythagoras a famous Philosopher who was the first that composed a booke and made a treatise purposely of sundry herbs with their diuers effects ascribing wholly the inuention and originall of them to the immortall gods and namely to Apollo and Aesculapius Democritus compiled a volume of the same argument But both hee and Pythagoras had trauelled before al ouer Persis Arabia Aethyopia and Aegypt and there conferred with the Sages and learned Phylosophers of that country called Magi. In summe so far were men in old time rauished with the admiration of herbs and their vertues that they bashed not to auouch euen incredible things of them Xanthus an antient Chronicler writeth in the first booke of his histories of a Dragon which finding one of her little serpents killed raised it to life again by a certain herbe which he nameth Balis and with the said herb a man also named Thylo whom the Dragon had slaine was reuiued and restored to health againe Also King Iuba doth report That there was a man in Arabia who being once dead became aliue againe by the vertue of a certain herbe Democritus said and Theophr astus gaue credit to his words That there is an herb with which a kind of foule wherof I haue made mention before is able to make the wedge or stopple to flie out of the hole of her neast into which the sheepheards had driuen it fast in case she bring the same herbe and but once touch the foresaid wedge therewith These be strange reports and incredible howbeit they draw men into a wonderfull opinion of the thing and fil their heads with a deep conceit forcing them to confesse That there is some great matter in hearbs and much true indeed which is reported so wonderfully of them And from hence it is that most are of this opinion and hold certainly That there is nothing impossible but may be performed by the power of herbs if a man could reach vnto their vertues mary few there be who haue attained to that felicity and the operation of most simples is vnknowne In the number of these Herophilus the renowned Physitian may be reckoned who was of this mind and gaue it out in his ordinary speech That some hearbs there were which were effectuall and did much good if a man or woman chanced but to tread vpon them vnder their feet And verily this hath bin knowne and found true by experience that some diseases would be more exasperat and angry yea and wounds grow to fretting and inflammation if folk went but ouer certain herbs in the way as they passed on foot Lo what the Physick in old time was and how the same lay wholly couched in the Greek language and not elswhere to be found But what might be the reason that there were no more simples knowne Surely it proceeds from this That for the most part they be rusticall peasants and altogether vnlettered who haue the experience and triall of herbs as those who alone liue and conuerse among them where they grow Another thing there is Men are carelesse and negligent and loue not to take any paines in seeking for them Againe euery place swarmeth so with Leeches and Physitians and men are so ready to run vnto them for to receiue some compound medicine at their hands that little or no regard there is made of herbs and good Simples Furthermore many of them which haue bin found out and knowne haue no name at all as for example that herb which I spake of in my Treatise concerning the cure and remedies of corne growing vpon the lands and which we all know if it be enterred or buried in the foure corners of the field will skar away all the foules of the aire that they shal not settle vpon the corne nor once come into the ground But the most dishonest and shamefull cause why so few simples in comparison be knowne is the naughtie nature and peeuish disposition of those persons who will not teach others their skill as if themselues should lose for euer that which they imparted vnto their neighbor Ouer and besides there is no certain meanes or way to direct vs to the inuention and knowledge of hearbes and their vertues for if we looke vnto these hearbs which are found already we are for some of them beholden to meere chance fortune and for others to say a truth to the immediat reuelation from God For proofe hereof mark but this one instance which I will relate to you For many a yeare vntill now of late daies the biting of a mad dog was counted incureable and looke who were so bitten they fell into a certain dread feare of water neither could they abide to drink or to heare talk therof and then were they thought to be in a desperat case it fortuned of late that a souldier one of the gard about the Pretorium was bitten with a mad dog and his mother saw a vision in her sleep giuing as it were direction vnto her for to send the root vnto her sonne for to drink of an Eglantine or wild rose called Cymorrhodon which the day before she had espied growing in an hortyard where she took pleasure to behold it This occurrent fel out in Lacetania the nearest part vnto vs of Spain Now as God would when the souldier before said vpon his hurt receiued by the dog was ready to fall into that symptome of Hydrophobie and began to feare water there came a letter from his mother aduertising him to obey the wil of God and to do according to that which was reuealed vnto her by the vision Whereupon he dranke the root of the said sweet brier or Eglantine and not only recouered himselfe beyond all mens expectation but also afterwards as many as in that case tooke the like receit found the same remedy Before this time the writers in Physick knew of no medicinable vertue in the Eglantine but only of the sponge or little ball growing amid
strong but the root and fruit do smell the stronger The apples of the white when they be ripe the maner is todry in the shadow but the juice drawn out of them is permitted to stand in the Sun for to gather and harden In like sort the juice of the root whether it be bruised and stamped or sodden in grosse red wine to the consumption of a third part The leaues moreouer of Mandrage are commonly kept and condite in a kind of pickle or salt brine for otherwise the juice of them whiles they be fresh and green is pestiferous and a very poison And yet order them so wel as you can hurtfull they be euery way the only smell of them stuffeth the head and breedeth the murre and the pose Howbeit in some countries they venture to eat the apples or fruit thereof but those that know not how to dresse and order them aright lo se the vse of their tongue thereby and proue dumbe for the time surprised and ouertaken with the exceeding strong sauor that they haue And verily if they be so bold as to take a great quantity therof in drinke they are sure to die for it Yet it may be vsed safely enough for to procure sleep if there be a good regard had in the dose that it be answerable in proportion to the strength and complexion of the patient one cyath thereof is thought to be a moderat and sufficient draught Also it is an ordinary thing to drink it against the poison of serpents likewise before the cutting or cauterizing pricking or launcing of any member to take away the sence and feeling of such extreme cures And sufficient it is in some bodies to cast them into a sleep with the smel of Mandrage against the time of such Chirurgery There be that drink it in lieu of Ellebore for to purge the body of melancholick humors taking two oboles therof in honied wine Howbeit Ellebore is stronger in operation for to euacuat black choler out of the body and to prouoke vomit As touching Hemlock it is also a ranke poison witnesse the publicke ordinance and law of the Athenians wherby malefactors who haue deserued to die were forced to drink that odious potion of Hemlock Howbeit many good vertues hath this herb and would not be reiected and cast aside for the sundry vses therof in Physicke The seed is euery way hurtfull and venomous As for the stems and stalks many there be that do eat it both green also boiled or stewed between two platters Light these stems be as kexes and full of ioints like Reeds and Canes of a darke gray or sullen colour rising vp many times aboue two cubits high and toward the top they spread and branch The leaues in some sort resemble Coriander but that they be more tender and a strong stinking smell they haue with them The seed is thicker and grosser than that of the Annise The root likewise hollow and of novse in Physicke The leaues and seed are exceeding refrigeratiue which if they haue gotten the mastery and vpper hand of any that hath taken them so as there is no way but one without help they shal feele themselues begin to wax cold in their extream or outward parts so to die inward howbeit there is a remedy euen then before the cold haue taken to the vital parts namely to take a good draught of wine which may set the body in a heat and chaufe it again mary if they drinke it with wine there are no meanes in the world to saue their liues There is a juice pressed out of the leaues and floures both together for that is the right reason namely whiles it is in flour the which is pressed out of that seed stamped being afterwards dried in the Sun and made into bals or trosches kils them that take it inwardly by congealing cluttering their bloud for this is a second venomous and deadly quality that it hath which is the cause that whosoeuer die by this means there appear certain spots or specks in their bodies after they be dead And yet there is a vse of this juice to dissolue hot and biting medicines therin in stead of water moreouer there is made of it a very conuenient cataplasme to be applied vnto the stomack for to coole the extreame heat thereof But the principal vertue that it hath is to represse and stay the flux of hot humors into the eies in summer time and to assuage their pains if they be annointed therewith It entreth besides into collyries or medicines deuised to ease pain and verily there is no rheumatick flux in any part of the body but it stoppeth it The leaues also of Hemlocke doe keepe downe all tumors appease paines and cure watering eies Anaxilaus mine Author saith That if a pure maiden doe in her virginity annoint her brests with this juice her dugs will neuer grow afterwards but continue still in the same state True it is indeed that beeing kept vnto the paps of women in child-bed it drieth vp their milk as also extinguisheth naturall seed if the cods and share be annointed therwith What remedies they should vse to saue themselues who are adiudged by law to drink it I for my part-purpose not to set down The strongest Hemlocke and of speediest operation is that which growes about Susa in the confines of Parthia Next to it for fearful working is that which commeth out of Laconica Candy and Natolia In Greece the Hemlocke of Megara is counted the quickest and then that of Attica Crestmarine or Sampier called the wild Crethmos riddeth the eies of the gummy viscous water that sticketh in them if it be applied thereto and if it be made into a cataplasme with fried Barly meale it assuageth also their swelling There groweth commonly an herbe named in Greeke Molybdaena that is to say in Latine Plumbago euen vpon euery corne land in lease resembling the Dock or Sorrell with a thicke root and the same rough and pricky Let one chew this herb first in his mouth then eftsoons lick with his tongue the eie it consumeth and taketh away the Plumbum which is a kinde of disease or infirmity incident to the eies As touching the first Capnos which in Latine is commonly called Pedes Gallinarei i. hens feet it groweth about decaied wals and ruinat buildings among rubbish in hedges the branches be very smal spread loosely or scattering the floure of a purple colour the leaues green the juice wherof discusseth the dimnesse and thicknesse about the eies and clarifieth the sight and therefore it is vsually put into eie-salues There is another herb of the same name like in effect but different in form from it which doth branch thicke and is of a tender substance the leaues for shape resembling Coriander and those of a wan or ashie colour but it beareth a purple floure it groweth in Gardens Hort-yards and Barly-lands If the eies be
in that violence and causing such trouble and broils as if the world were at war within it selfe And can there bee any thing more wonderfull and miraculous than to see the waters congealed oboue in the aire and so to continue pendant in the skie And yet as if they were not contented to haue risen thus to that exceeding height they catch and snatch vp with them into the vpper region of the aire a world of little fishes otherwhiles also they take vp stones and charge themselues with that ponderous weighty matter which is more proper to another Element The same waters falling downe againe in raine are the very cause of all those things here below which the earth produceth and bringeth forth And therefore considering the wonderfull nature thereof and namely how the corne groweth vpon the ground how trees and plants doe liue prosper and fructifie by the means of waters which first ascending vp into the skie are furnished from thence with a liuely breath and bestowing the same vpon the herbs cause them to spring and multiply we cannot chuse but confesse that for all the strength and vertue which the Earth also hath shee is beholden to the Waters and hath receiued all from them In which regard aboue all things and before I enter into my intended discourse of Fishes and beasts liuing in this Element I meane first to set down in generaility the maruellous power and properties of water it selfe and to illustrat the same by way of sundry examples for the particular discourse of all sorts of waters what man liuing is able to performe CHAP. II. ¶ The diuersitie of waters their vertues und operations medicinable and other singularities obserued therein THere is in maner no region nor coast of the earth but you shall see in one quarter or other waters gently rising and springing out of the ground here and there yeelding fountains in one place cold in another hot yea and otherwhils there may be discouered one with another neere adioyning as for example about Tarbelli a towne in Guienne and the Pyrenaean hills there do boile vp hot and cold springs so close one vnto the other that hardly any distance can be perceiued between Moreouer sources there be which yeeld waters neither cold nor hot but luke-warme and the same very holesome and proper for the cure of many diseases as if Nature had set them apart for the good of man only and no other liuing creature beside To these fountains so medicinable there is ascribed some diuine power insomuch as they giue name vnto sundry gods and goddesses and seeme to augment their number by that means yea otherwhiles great towns cities carrie their names like as Puteoli in Campane Statyellae in Liguria Aquae Sextiae in the prouince of Narbon or Piemont but in no countrey of the world is there found greater plenty of these springs and the same endued with more medicinable properties than in the tract or vale Baianus within the realm of Naples where you shall haue some hold of brimstone others of alume some standing vpon a veine of salt others of nitre some resembling the nature of Bitumen and others again of a mixt qualitie partly soure and partly salt Furthermore you shall meet with some of them which naturally serue as a stouph or hot-house for the very steeme and vapour only which ariseth from them is wholesome and profitable for our bodies and those are so exceeding hot that they heat the bains yea and are able to make the cold water to seeth boile again which is in their bathing tubs as namely the fountaine Posidianus whithin the foresaid territory Bajanus which name it tooke of one Posidius a slaue sometime and enfranchised by Claudius Caesar the Emperour Moreouer there be of them so hot that they are able to seeth an egg or any other viands or cates for the table As for the Licinian springs which beare the name of Licinius Crassus a man may perceiue them to boile and reeke again euen out of the very sea See how good Nature is to vs who amid the waues and billows of the sea hath affourded healthfull waters But now to discipher their vertues in Physick according to their seuerall kinds thus much in generality is obserued in these baths That they serue for the infirmities of the sinews for gout of the feet sciatica Some more properly are good for dislocations of ioints and fractures of bones others haue a property to loosen the bellie to purge and as there be of them which heale wounds and vlcers so there are again that more particularly be respectiue to the accidents of the head and ears and among the rest those which beare the name of Cicero and be called Ciceronianâ—… besoueraign for the eies Now there is a memorable manour or faire house of plaisance situat vpon the sea side in the very high way which leadeth from the lake Auernus to the cittie Puteoli much renowmed for the groue or wood about it as also for the stately galleries porches allies and walking places adioyning therunto which set out and beautifie the said place very much this goodly house M. Cicero called Academia in regard of some resemblance it had vnto a colledge of that name in Athens from whence he tooke the modell and patterne where he compiled those books of his which carrie the name of the place and be called Academice quaestiones and there he caused his monument or sepulchre to be made for the perpetuitie of his memoriall as who would say he had not sufficiently immortalized his name throughout the world by those noble works which he wrote and commended vnto posteritie Well soone after the decease of Cicero this house and forrest both fell into the hands and tenure of Antistius Vetus at what time in the very forefront as it were and entrie thereof there were discouered certaine hot fountaines breaking and springing out of the ground and those passing medicinable and wholesome for the eies Of these waters Laurea Tullus an enfranchised vassall of Cicero made certaine verses and those carying with them such a grace of majestie that at the first sight a man may easily perceiue how affectionat and deuout he was to the seruice of his lord and master and for that the said Epigram is worthy to be read not onely there but also in euery place I will set it downe here as it standeth ouer those baines to be seene in this Decasticon Quo tua Romanae vindex clarissime linguae Sylva loco melius surgere jussa viret Atque Academiae celebratam nomine villam Nunc reparat cultu sub potiore Vetus Hîc etiam apparent lymphae non ante repertae Lanquida quae infuso lumina rore levant Nimirum locus ipse sui Ciceronis honori Hoc dedit hacfontes cum patefecit ope Vt quoniam totum legitur sine fine per orbem Sint plures oculis quae medeantur aquae O
tasted of the â—…ater die presently and are there to be seen lying dead For this secret mischiefe there is besides in many of these waters that they are faire and cleare to see to and thereby seeme to allure both man and beast to drinke thereof for their owne bane and destruction as we may see by Nonacris in Arcadia for surely this fountaine giueth no suspition at all wherby we should mistrust a venomous quality and yet some are of opinion That the hurt which commeth thereby proceedeth from excessiue cold and they ground their reason vpon this That the water issuing out of it into riuerets and rils will congeale and grow to a stony substance It fareth otherwise about the vale of Tempe in Thessalie where the water of a certaine fountaine is fearfull to see to and there is no man but abhorreth the sight therof besides the corrosiue quality that by folks saying it hath to fret and eat into brasse and yron the best is that as I haue shewed before it runneth not farre and the course that it holdes is but short But wonderfull it is that a certaine wild Carob should enuiron this source round about with his roots and the same continually beare purple flours as it is roported to do Also in the very brinke and edge of this fountaine there is another herbe of a kind by it selfe which abideth fresh and greene from one end of the yeare to another In Macedonie not far from the tombe of Euripides the Poët there be two riuers run together the one yeelds water most wholesome for to be drunke the other is as noisome and deadly Neare to Perperenae a towne in Troas there is a spring the water whereof giueth a stonie coat or crust to all the earth that it either ouerfloteth or runneth by of which nature are the hot waters issuing out of a fountaine neare Delium in Euboea for look what way soeuer the riuer runs you shal see the stones to grow still in height About Eurymenae which is in Thessalie there is a well cast into it any chaplets or guirlands of floures they will turne to stones There runneth a riuer by Colossi a city in Phrygia into which if you throw brickes or tiles that be raw and vnbaked you shall take them forth againe as hard as stones Within the mines of the Isle Scyros there is a riuer which conuerteth into stone all the trees that it runneth by or toucheth as well the boughs as the bodies In the famous and renowned caues called Corycia all the drops of water that distill from the rocke turne to be as hard as stones and no maruell for at Meza in Macedonie a man shall see the drops of water become stone as they hang to the very vaults of the rocke much like to ysickles from the eaues of houses in Winter time whereas at Corycum abouenamed the said drops turn into stone when they are fallen downe and not before In certain caues they are to be seen conuerted into stones both waies and some of them are so big as they serue to make columnes and pilastres of and those otherwhiles of diuers colours to the eye as may be seen in the great caue of Phausia which is within the Chersonese of the Rhodians Thus much may suffice by way of examples to shew the varietie of waters with their sundry vertues and operations CHAP. III. ¶ The qualitie that is in waters How a man may know which be good and wholesome from such as be naught and vnwholesome MVch question there is controuersie among physicians What kind of water is best and yet with one generall consent they condemne and that iustly all dead and standing waters supposing those that run to be better for it standeth with good reason that the very agitation and beating vpon the banks as they beare streame in their current maketh them more subtile pure and cleare and by that meanes they get their goodnesse Which considered I maruaile very much at those who make most account of the * water gathered and kept in cesternes But they ground their opinion vpon this reason because raine water is of all others lightest as consisting of that substance which was able to rise and mount vp aloft and there to hang aboue in the aire Which is the cause also that they preferre Snow water before that which commeth downe in shoures and the water of yce dissolued before the other of melted Snow as if the water were by yce driuen together and reduced to the vtmost point of finenesse They collect hereby that these waters to wit raine snow and yce bee all of them lighter than those that spring out of the earth and yce among the rest farre lighter than any water in proportion But this opinion of theirs is to bee reputed as erronious and for the common good and profit of mankinde to be refuted For first and formost that leuitie whereof they spake can hardly and vnneath bee found and knowne by any other meanes than by the sence and feeling of the stomacke for if you goe to the weighing of waters you shall perceiue little or no difference at all in their poise Neither is it a sufficient argument to prooue raine water to be light because it ascendeth on high into the aire for wee may see stones likewise drawne vp into the clouds and besides as the raine falleth downe againe it cannot chuse but be infected with the grosse vapours of the earth Whereby it commeth to passe that wee find raine water ordinarily to bee most charged and corrupted with ordure and filthinesse and by reason thereof it heateth most quickly and corrupteth soonest As for snow and yce that they should bee thought to bee composed of the subtile parts of this Element and yeeld the finest water I wonder much considering the neare affinitie which is betweene them and haile which might induce vs also to thinke the same of it but all men confesse and hold that the same is most pestilent and pernicious for to bee drunke Moreouer there are amongst them not a few who contrary vnto the opinion of other Physicians their fellowes affirme flatly and confidently the water of snow and yce to bee the vnwholesome drinke that is for that all the puritie and finenesse thereof hath beene drawne and sucked out And in very truth wee find it by experience that any liquor whatsoeuer doth diminish and consume greatly by beeing frozen and congealed into an yce Wee see besides That ouer-grosse and foggie deawes breed a kinde of scurfe or scab in plants white frosts burne and sendge them and both of these the hore frost as well as the deaw proceed from the same causes in a manner that snowes doe Certes all Philosophers agree in this one point That raine water putrifieth soonest of any other and least while continueth good in a ship as saylers know full well Howbeit Epigenes auoucheth and affirmeth That the water which hath beene seuen times putrified and as often
they may see out of the said masks neuerthelesse To conclude Vermillion is vsed much in limming the titles and inscriptions of roles and books it setteth forth the letters also and maketh them more faire and beautifull which are written in tables ouer sepulchres be they enriched otherwise either with gold or marble stone CHAP. VIII ¶ Of quicksilver artificiall called Hydragyrum Of guilding siluer Of Touch-stones for to trie the diuerse kinds of siluer SO inuentiue is the wit of man that there hath beene deuised in the world a means to make an artificiall Quicksiluer in stead of the true and natural and that out of the second kind of Minium which before I called Secundarium I should erewhile haue spoken therof in the chapter of the right Quicksiluer but deferred it I haue no further than to this present place First therfore this is to be vnderstood that made it is two maner of waies somtimes of the Minium aforesaid punned with vinegre in morters and with pestles all of brasse otherwhiles it is drawn by fire for they put secondarie Vermilion in an earthen pot wel luted all ouer with cley vpon which is there set a pan of yron the same couered ouer the head with another pot well cemented vnder which earthen pot abouenamed there ought to be a good fire made the same kept continually with blowing and thus by circulation there wil appeare a dew or sweat in the vppermost vessel proceeding from the vapors resolued which being wiped off will in substance shew liquid as water and in color resemble siluer The same liquor is easie to diuide into drops and as apt again by the lubricitie thereof to run into an humor This quicksiluer being by the judgement of all men a rank poyson I suppose that al things reported of Minium as medicinable be dangerous remedies vnlesse haply that by inunction of the head or belly it staies all flux of bloud with this caution and charge notwithstanding that it neither perce and enter into the inward noble parts nor touch the wound for otherwise my conceit is that it ought not to be vsed I see that now adaies siluer only and in maner nothing els is guilded by the means of this artificiall Quicksiluer wheras gold foile should be laid also after the same maner vpon vessels or any workmanship of brasse but as I haue beforesaid the deceit fraud that is euery where in the world which makes men so wittie as they be hath deuised other means of guilding and those of lesse dispence charge than with any Quicksiluer according as I haue before declared I canot thus write as I do so much of gold and siluer but me thinks I must of necessity speak of the stone which they cal in Latin Coticula which in times past was not vsually found in any place but in the riuer Tmolus as saith Theophrastus but in these daies we find it euery where fome call it Heraclius others Lydius Now these stones all the sort of them are but small not exceeding foure inches in length and two in bredth That part or side which lies aboue toward the Sunne when it is found is thought better for touch than the other which lieth to the earth By meanes of these touchstones our cunning and expert mine-masters if they touch any ore of these mettals which with a pickax or foile they haue gotten forth of the veine in the mine will tell you by and by how much gold there is in it how much siluer or brasse and they will not misse a scruple a wonderfull experiment and the same infallible As touching siluer two degrees there be of it different in goodnesse which may be knowne and discerned in this maner For lay a piece of siluer ore vpon a sclise plate or fire pan of yron red hot if it continue white still it is very good if the same become reddish go it may for good too in a lower degree but in case it looke blacke there is no goodnes at all in it Howbeit there is some deceit also in this triall and experiment which may crosse a man in his iudgement for let the said sclise or plate lie a time in a mans vrine be the ore neuer so base that is laid thereupon when it is burning red hot it will seeme to take a white colour for the time and deceiue him that shall see it To conclude there is another pretty proofe of siluer fine if it be brought and burnished and that is by breathing vpon it for if the breath be seene thereupon presently as a sweat and the same passe away incontinently as a cloud it is a signe of perfect siluer CHAP. IX ¶ Of mirroirs or looking glasses And of the Aegyptian silver AN opinion it was somtime generally receiued and beleeued That no plates might be driuen by the hammer nor mirroirs made but of the best and purest siluer And euen this experiment is falsified and corrupted by deceit But surely a wonderful thing in Nature this is of these mirroirs of siluer that they should represent so perfectly the image of any thing that is before them as they do which must needs be as all men confesse by the reuerberation of the aire from the solid body of the mirroir which being beaten backe againe from it bringeth therwith the said image expressed therin The same reuerberation is the cause that such looking glasses as by much vsage are polished and made subtile doe in that sort gently driue backe the image represented within them that it seemes infinitely big in proportion of the body it selfe such difference there is in them so materiall it is whether they repercusse and reject the aire or receiue and entertaine it Moreouer there be drinking cups so framed and fashioned with a number of mirroirs within that if there do but one look within them he shall imagine that he saw a multitude of people euen as many images as there be mirroirs There are deuised looking glasses also which will represent monstrous shapes and such be those mirroirs that are dedicated in the temple at Smyrna but this comes by reason that the matter wherof they be made is in that sort fashioned For it skilleth much whether mirroirs be hollow either in manner of a drinking pot or of a Threcidian buckler whether the middle part lie low and inward or rise and beare out with a bellie whether they be set crosse and ouerthwart or stand bias whether they hang with their heads bending backward or bolt vpright For according as the matter which receiueth the image is disposed to this or that fashion or set one way or other so it turneth the shadowes back againe for verily the said image represented in a mirroir is nothing els but the brightnesse and clearenesse of the matter which receiueth the same returned and beaten backe againe But to go through in this place with all things concerning such looking glasses the best known in old