Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	child_n	woman_n	womb_n	1,403	5	9.8281	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A13821	The historie of serpents. Or, The second booke of liuing creatures wherein is contained their diuine, naturall, and morall descriptions, with their liuely figures, names, conditions, kindes and natures of all venemous beasts: with their seuerall poysons and antidotes; their deepe hatred to mankind, and the wonderfull worke of God in their creation, and destruction. Necessary and profitable to all sorts of men: collected out of diuine scriptures, fathers, phylosophers, physitians, and poets: amplified with sundry accidentall histories, hierogliphicks, epigrams, emblems, and ænigmaticall obseruations. By Edvvard Topsell.	Topsell, Edward, 1572-1625?	1608 (1608)	STC 24124; ESTC S122051	444,728	331

then is the question at an end but if it be not then must the generation of it be sought for in some other place Thus leauing the stone of the Toade we must proceede to the other parts of the story and first of all their place of habitation which for them of the water is neere the vvater-side and for them of the earth in bushes hedges Rockes and holes of the earth neuer comming abroade while the Sunne shineth for they hate the sunne-shine and theyr nature cannot indure it for which cause they keepe close in their holes in the day time and in the night they come abroad Yet sometimes in rainy-weather and in solitary places they come abroade in the day-time All the Winter-time they liue vnder the earth feeding vppon earth herbes and wormes and it is said they eate earth by measure for they eate so much euery day as they can grype in theyr fore-foote as it were sizing themselues least the whole earth should not serue them till the Spring Resembling heerein great rich couetous men who euer spare to spend for feare they shall want before they die And for 〈◊〉 in auncient time the wise Painters of Germany did picture a woman sitting vpon a ●oade to signifie couetousnes They also loue to eate Sage and yet the roote of 〈◊〉 is to them deadly poyson They destroy Bees without all danger to themselues for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reepe to the holes of their Hiues and there blow in vppon the Bees by which ●…y draw them out of the Hiue and so destroy them as they come out for this 〈…〉 at the water-side they lye in waite to catch them When they come to drink in ●…me they see little or nothing but in the night time they see perfectly and there●…ey come then abroade About their generation there are many worthy obseruations in nature somtimes they are bredde out of the putrefaction and corruption of the earth it hath also been seene that out of the ashes of a Toade burnt not onely one but many Toades haue been regenerated the yeere folowing In the New world there is a Prouince called Dariene the ayre whereof is wonderful vnwholsome because all the country standeth vpon rotten Marishes It is there obserued that when the slaues or seruants water the pauements of the dores from the drops of water which fall on the right hand are instantly many Toades ingendered as in other places such drops of water are turned into gnats It hath also beene seene that women conceiuing with child haue likewise conceiued at the same time a frog or a toade or a Lizard and therefore Platearius saith that those thinges which are medicines to prouoke the menstruous course of women doe also bring foorth the Secondiues And some haue called Bufonē fratrem Salernitanorum et lacertum fratrē Lombardorū that is a toade the brother of the Salernitans the Lizard the brother of the Lombards for it hath been seene that a woman of Salernum hath at one time brought forth a boy and a toade and therfore hee calleth the toade his brother so likewise a woman of Lombardy a Lizard therefore he calleth the Lizard the Lombards brother And for this cause the women of those countries at such time as their child beginneth to quicken in their wombe do drink the iuyce of Parsly Leekes to kill such conceptions if any be There was a woman newly married and when in the opinion of all she was with child in steed of a child she brought forth foure little liuing creatures like frogs and yet shee remained in good health but a little while after shee felt some paine about the rymne of her belly which afterward was eased by applying a fewe remedies Also there was another woman which together with a man-child in her secondines did also bring forth such another beast and after that a Marchants wife did the like in Anconitum But what should be the reason of these so strange vnnaturall conceptions I wil not take vpon me to discide in nature least the omnipotent hand of God should be wronged and his most secrete iust coūsell presumptuously iudged called into question This we know that it was prophesied in the Reuelation that Frogs Locusts should come out of the whore of Babylon and the bottomlesse pit and therfore seeing the seate of the Whore of Babylon is in Italy it may be that God would haue manifested the deprauation of Christian religion beginning among the Italians and there continued in the conioyned birth of men serpents for surely none but deuils incarnate or men conceiued of Serpents brood would so stifly stand in Romish error as the Italians do therefore they seeme to be more addicted to the errors of their Fathers which they say is the religion wherin they were borne then vnto the truth of Iesus Christ which doth vnanswerably detect the pride vanity of the Romish faith But to leaue speaking of the conception of toades in women we wil proceed further vnto their generation in the stomacks bellies of men wherof there may more easily a reason be giuen then of the former Now although that in the earth toades are generated of putrified earth waters yet such a generation cannot be in the body of man for although there be much putrifaction in vs yet not so much as to ingender bones other orgynes such as are in toades as for wormes they are all flesh may more easily be conceiued of the putrifaction in our stomacks But then you wil say how comes it to passe that in mens stomacks there are sound frogs toades I answer that this euill hapneth vnto such men as drinke water for by drinking of water a toades egge may easily slip into the stomack there being of a viscous nature cleaueth fast to the rough parts of the ventricle and it being of a contrary nature to man can neuer be disgested or auoyded and for that cause the venome that is in it neuer goeth out of 〈…〉 stance to poyson the other partes of 〈…〉 med into a Toade without doing 〈…〉 are bredde in the bodies of men 〈…〉 the midst of Trees and Rocks and 〈…〉 are bredde in For the venome is so 〈…〉 ripenesse euen as wee see it is almost an vsu●… shall not be perceiued till many dayes weekes 〈…〉 For the casting out of such a Toade bredde in th●… They take a Serpent and bowell him then they cut of●… of the body they likewise part into small peeces which 〈…〉 fatte which swymmeth at the toppe which the sicke person 〈…〉 he auoyde all the Toades in his stomacke afterwards he must 〈…〉 ticall medicines And thus much may suffice for the ordinary and 〈…〉 tion of Toades These Toades doe not leape as Frogges doe but because of their 〈…〉 short legges theyr pace is a soft creeping-pace yet some-times in anger they lift vp 〈◊〉 selues endeuouring to doe harme for great is theyr watch obstinacie and desire to be 〈…〉 uenged

slyme of the earth after the flood of Ducalion and slaine afterwards by Apollo whereof there lieth this tale That when Latona was with childe by Iupiter of Apollo and Diana Iuno resisted their birth but when they were borne and layde in the cradle she sent the dragon Python to deuoure them Apollo beeing but a young Infant did kill the dragon with a darte But this tale seemeth too fabulous and incredible and therefore they haue mended the matter with another deuice For they say that Python by the commaundement of Iuno did persecute Latona throughout all the world seeking to deuoure her so as she had no rest vntill shee came vnto her sister Asteria who receiued her into Delos where she was safely deliuered of Apollo and Diana Afterward when the child was growne vp he slew the dragon in remembrance reuenge of the wrong done to his mother But the true cause of this history is deliuered by Pausanias Macrobius to be thus That Apollo killed one Python a very wicked man in Delphos that the Poets in excuse of the fact did faine him to be a dragon as afore-said And so I shall not neede to say any more of Python except these verses following out of Ouid about his generation Sed te quoque maxime Python Tum genuit populisque nouis incognite serpens Terror eras tantum spatij de monte tenebras Hunc Deus arcitenens nunquam talibus armis Antè nici in damis caprisque fugacibus vsus Mille grauem telis exhausta penepharetra Perdidit effuso per vulnera nigra veneno Neue operis famam posset delere vetustas Inflituit sacros celebri certamine ludos Pithia per domitae serpentis nominem dictor Caeruleus tali prostratus Apolline Python Which may be englished thus But yet thou vgly Python wert engendered by her tho A terrour to the new-made-folke which neuer erst had knowne So foule a Dragon in their life so monstrously fore-growne So great a ground thy poysond paunch did vnderneath thee hyde The God of shooting who no where before that present tyde Those kind of weapons put in vre but at the speckled Deere Or at the Roes so light of foote a thousand shafts well neere Did on that hydeous Serpent spend of which there was not one But forced forth the venomd-blood along his sides to gone So that his quiuer almost void he nayld him to the ground And did him nobly at the last by force of shot confound And least that time should of this worke deface the worthy fame He did ordaine in mind thereof a great and solemne game Which of the Serpent that he slew of Pythions bare the name Of the Indian Dragons there are also said to be two kindes one of them fenny and liuing in the Marshes which are slow of pace and without combes on their heades like females the other in the Mountaines which are more sharpe and great and haue combes vpon their head their backs beeing some-what browne and all their bodies lesse scalie then the other When they come downe from the mountaines into the plaine to hunt they are neither afraid of Marshes nor violent waters but thrust themselues greedily into all hazards and dangers and because they are of longer and stronger bodies then the dragons of the Fennes they beguile them of their meate take away from them their prepared booties Some of them are of a yellowish fieric-colour hauing also sharpe backs like sawes these also haue beardes and when they sette vppe their scales they shine like siluer The apples of their eyes are precious stones and as bright as fire in which there is affirmed to be much vertue against many diseases and therefore they bring vnto the Hunters and killers of dragons no small gaine besides the profit of theyr skinne and theyr teeth and they are taken when they descend from the mountaines into the valleyes to hunt the Elephants so as both of them are kild together by the Hunters Their members are very great like vnto the members of the greatest Swine but theyr bodies are leaner flexibly turning to euery side according to the necessitie of motion Their snoutes are very strong resembling the greatest rauening fishes they haue beardes of a yellowe golden colour being full of bristles and the Mountaine-dragons commonly haue more deepe eye-liddes then the dragons of the Fennes Their aspect is very fierce and grimme and whensoeuer they mooue vppon the earth their eyes giue a sound from theyr eye-liddes much like vnto the tinckling of Brasse and some-times they boldly venture into the Sea and take Fishes OF THE WINGED DRAGON THere be some Dragons which haue winges and no feete some againe haue both feete and wings and some neither feete nor wings but are onely distinguished from the common sort of Serpents by the combe growing vppon their heads and the beard vnder their cheekes Saint Augustine saith that dragons doe abide in deepe Caues and hollow places of the earth and that some-times when they perceiue moistnes in the ayre they come out of theyr holes and beating the ayre with their winges as it were with the strokes of oares they forsake the earth and flie aloft which wings of theirs are of a skinny substance and very voluble and spreading themselues wide according to the quantitie and largenesse of the dragons bodie which caused Lucan the Poet in his verses to write in this maner following Vos quoque qui cunctis innoxia numina terris Serpitis aurato nitidifulgore Dracones Pestiferos ardens facit Affrica ducitis altum Aëra cum pennis c. In English thus You shining Dragons creeping on the earth Which fiery Affrick holds with skinnes like gold Yet pestilent by hot infecting breath Mounted with wings in th' ayre we doe behold The inhabitants of the kingdome of Georgia once called Media doe say that in theyr Valleyes there are diuers Dragons which haue both wings and feete and that their feete are like vnto the feete of Geese Besides there are dragons of sundry colours for some of them are blacke some redde some of an Ashe-colour some yellow and their shape and outward appearance verie beautifull according to the verses of Nicander Formosa apparet species pulchro illius orae Triplici conspicui se produnt ordine dentes Magna sub egregia scintillant lumina fronte Tinctaque felle tegunt imum paleariamentum Which may be englished thus Their forme of presence outwardly appeares All beautifull and in their goodly mouth Their teeth stand double all one within another Conspicuous order so doth bewray the truth Vnder their browes which are both great and wide Stand twinckling eyes as bright as any starre With redde-galls tincture are their dewlaps dyed Their chinne or vnder-chappe to couer farre Gyllius Pierius and Greuinus following the authoritie of this Poet doe affirme that a Dragon is of a blacke colour the bellie some-what greene very beautifull to behold hauing a treble rowe of teeth in theyr